Cops pull intoxicated man from icy creek

VERNON – More than one person was looking out for a Vernon man who drunkenly stumbled into an icy creek.

On Dec. 23 around 2:10 p.m. the man was seen by ambulance personnel in the 3300 block of Centennial Drive. He was staggering and visibly intoxicated. RCMP suspect he may have consumed other alcohol-containing substances such as mouthwash in addition to booze. The 55-year-old man, a known street person, refused service from the medical personnel and disappeared into an alleyway.

The concerned ambulance crew immediately contacted police. Due to the cold weather and the man’s perilous condition, the RCMP set up patrols to locate him.

While making inquiries about his whereabouts, an officer caught sight of him near Duck Park, behind the downtown Safeway.

“Out of the corner of his eye he saw the person he was looking for fall into the creek,” RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. “(He) went in over his head.”

With the help of another officer, they hauled the man out of the water. Due to his intoxicated state, Molendyk says the man likely would not have made it out of the water on his own. Medical personnel checked the man over and moved him to hospital.

“… Anybody that falls into the creek at this temperature, at this time of year, you don’t last very long. This man is very lucky (that) our emergency personnel just took a little extra time. (It) started with the ambulance crew and then our members,” Molendyk says.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.