Man gets stuck in Rogue River after driving into it

TouVelle State Park, Ore,. — A local jet boat company saved the day when a man got stuck in the middle of the Rogue River — in his car!

“It’s happened before, nothing like that in the middle of our tour so it made for an extra memorable adventure.”

Rogue Jet Boat Adventures does tours on the Rogue River daily, and Emily Grimes says it isn’t uncommon for them to help out people stuck, or stranded.

“Seems like there’s at least a couple rescues that we come along during our trips a year – whether it’s flipped rafts…”

But when they were doing their normal tour route on Saturday, they came across something unusual.

“We came around the corner and there was something in the middle of the river that isn’t normally there and so, it was a car.”

A Jeep Wrangler drove into the river purposely – trying to cross to the other side, but got stuck.

“I think it’s something that was kind of a tradition that he had normally done every Memorial Day Weekend, but with the water so high, that factor wasn’t expected.”

Grimes says they were able to get the man out of the water and into their boat.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office says it happened just about a mile upstream from TouVelle State Park.

“There are a lot of places along the river where it’s more shallow and people try to drive across. And in this case it looks like the driver thought he could make it across, but the bottom of the river changes year to year.” said Sergeant Julie Denney.

While the unidentified man was taken to safety, his car was left behind.

“Our marine patrol deputies and search and rescue helped a tow company to get the jeep all rigged up so they could pull it out.” said Denney.

While it’s a bit unusual to see a car stuck in the Rogue, the sheriff’s office hopes the incident serves as a warning to others about the strength of the river.

“This year it’s just very unpredictable, with the water running high and fast and very cold it’s just not a good idea to try and get across the river in anything other than a boat.” said Denney.

It’s unknown if the man will get a ticket or fine.

He was uninjured.

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