Towing Companies Come to Aid of Wife of Stranded Oil Field Worker

Two towing companies were seen pulling a blue PT Cruiser out of the Parkview Lake off Parkview Dr. and the Red Arroyo in southwest San Angelo Wednesday.

How it got there is quite a tale.

Christopher Gallegos works for Smith Oilfield Services and had traveled home from a job near Midland Monday night. He arrived at an apartment complex near the lake to drop off a friend.

On his way home in the downpour in Monday night’s storms, he was on Sunset Dr. near the intersection of Lindenwood Street (near Midnight Rodeo), when “he hit some water, he started hydroplaning, and floating down the street (Lindenwood),” Gallegos’ significant other, Aleida Jones said. The lake, that is usually just a pond, is behind houses and townhomes on Lindenwood Drive, and the PT Cruiser with Gallegos inside floated in between two of the structures in into the lake.

“He went over this trailer—that’s how high the water was,” Jones said.

Once the car seemed to have come to a rest, it was still floating, but Gallegos could sense that water was rushing into the car. He was sinking. “For a moment I thought this is it. I’m going to die,” Gallegos said. “Then I came to my senses.”

Gallegos said after several tries, he was able to kick out a window just before the car sank into the lake.

“He had his work boots on,” Jones explained, making it more difficult to swim. Luckily, he soon hit a concrete berm underneath the water and was able to gain footing.

“He yelled for help, but everyone was inside their residences and no one heard him,” Jones said. Finally, walking up behind on of the residences, he saw a woman through a window who was on her laptop.

He knocked on her door seeking help. “He said, I’m not a crook, and I’m not drunk or here to hurt you, I just almost drowned in the lake and I need you to call 9-1-1,” Jones relayed what Gallegos said.

The woman called the police for him.

By Wednesday, the PT Cruiser that is owned and registered to Jones was still in the lake. “I called everyone (towing companies), but they all wanted too much money,” she said. Home Motors, the wrecker company with the contract with the city, wanted to charge her $400 per hour. “My rent’s almost $1,000 per month,” she said.

After a half day of frantically calling looking for help, she said Dusty from Southern Industrial Towing reached out to her. “I am aware of your situation, and we’re going to go ahead and handle this for you,” Dusty said. Dusty said he was tipped off about Jones’ plight by the crew at Angelo Towing and wanted to help the wife of a fellow oil field worker, who by Wednesday was back on the job in Midland.

So Wednesday, Angelo Towing and Southern Industrial Towing of San Angelo were seen pulling the PT Cruiser out of the lake.

They didn’t charge Jones for the service. It was a done as a courtesy.

Jones did not indicate what kind of insurance she carried on her PT Cruiser, but it was not drivable when it emerged from the water.