Woman Rescued After Car is Swept Down Raging Red Arroyo

 

Visibility was low on Monday evening when Shelby Spencer climbed into her boyfriend's 2009 Honda Civic and left her job as a waitress at Texas Roadhouse. By 10:00 p.m. San Angelo streets had slicked over and filled, and Spencer was headed right for one of the city's treacherous low water crossings. 

On her way to pick up her boyfriend from work, the young college student drove toward the loop on Southwest, nearing the Red Arroyo. A moment later, Spencer lost visibility and the vehicle lost traction and began to float.

"It started hailing and pouring really hard and I couldn't really see anything," Spencer said, still soaked from the rainwater. "I was going slow...then all of a sudden the water washed me off the street."

In a quick sweep, the water pushed the car into the Red Arroyo, where it traveled for approximately 25 feet. Spencer was still inside.  

"It started to sink and I climbed out the window," she said. "I attempted to get on the roof and then I fell into the water and he grabbed me and pulled me up. There was somebody there and they pulled me up onto the grass."

Spencer said she believed the man that saved her had been in his car leaving McDonald's when he spotted her in the Red Arroyo. The name of the man is unknown; after saving Spencer he left the scene, but she is grateful for the help of the heroic stranger.

"I was freaking out because I've never been in a wreck or anything and I didn't know what to do," she said. "I just got off work and I had to grab all my stuff because it was floating." 

Spencer's boyfriend, Dorian Herrick, showed up at the scene after she had been rescued. His car traveled down the Red Arroyo until it was stopped by flood drain bars. 

The San Angelo Fire Department arrived to assist Spencer, however the car will be left in the Arroyo until Tuesday morning, when water will be lower and retrieving the auto will be easier. 

San Angelo LIVE! is on the search for the Good Samaritan, and would like to buy him lunch. Send us a message if you know of the man that saved Spencer's life.

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Comments

It would be nice to address low water crossings but it is cheaper for people to use common sense.
jdgt, Tue, 05/27/2014 - 10:11
Seriously? Who the H E double hockey sticks smiles proudly for the camera after doing something as IGNORANT as driving down a street where one of the known trouble water crossings exists (during a downpour) after previous flash floods...
Very few people in town read warning signs, and they regularly put other people in danger without a care in the world over it. Also considering nothing but news stories the past few days of other incidents at this location and a few others in town. Thanks for the caution contents are hot on my coffee cup. Glad she is ok, disappointed she has no sense.
...would have "killed" me for doing this. And I would have gotten a lecture all the way home about how stupid I was to try to drive through this is a little car....even a truck. Thank goodness the driver was the lone occupant. What would a person do if they had to rescue themselves AND a child or children, or a pet?
Lighten up, folks. I don't condone what the girl did, but we've all done something stupid at least once in our life. I'm pretty sure the girl is smiling not because she did something stupid (or at least careless), but because she survived what could easily have been a tragedy.
It's pretty AMAZING to me how people will lay judgment on someone not even knowing the circumstances that surround this accident! She did not (let me repeat myself in case y'all didn't understand) she DID NOT knowingly go into the water. She had just traveled the very same road 10 minutes prior to the accident and there wasn't any water covering the road. She was caught in flash flooding. FYI - The reason for the beautiful smile was that she was happy to be alive!
The rain and winds had already been in full swing by 10 P.M. Anyone who owns a T.V. or a cellphone heard the warnings about the low water crossings and were urged to stay off the roads if possible. The low visibility alone was enough of a hazard. J.D. wondered who would have the nerve to pose for a picture after knowingly entering a dangerous situation. The answers are all over the news during any hazardous weather, scores of morons who feel they're above the dangers of icy roads and flooded streets. Common sense is not so common anymore and personal responsibility is all but dead, so I'm not surprised that one of the first things which occurred to this young woman was the need to pose for a picture. The failure to grasp the seriousness of unhealthy situations while displaying joyous, nonchalant attitudes is usually only seen in the mentally ill, small children and dogs.
jdgt, Wed, 05/28/2014 - 08:17
Lares, you should consider public office. We need some more of that straightforward mentality!

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