Woman drives through playground, plunges into the water in Newport Beach

A woman suspected of driving under the influence drove through a playground and into the waters of Newport Bay on Friday night, police and local media reported.

Newport Beach police arrived on the scene shortly before 8 p.m. to find a vehicle submerged in the water near the intersection of Via Genoa and Via Lido Nord on Newport’s Lido Isle, Lt. Justin Morouse said Saturday.

The woman, who was driving alone, plowed through a playground at Genoa Park before entering the water, eyewitnesses told CBS Los Angeles. Bystanders ran to the car and rescued the woman, who was not seriously injured.

“I turned around and got a piece of the pipe from the railing and I just bashed both the windows in, and then from there someone was able to open the trunk and once they opened the trunk they had her out,” witness Jehu Jogwe told CBS.

Police did not release details on the car or the driver, who was taken to the hospital for medical attention and then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. There were no other injuries, Morouse said.