SUV plunges off cliff into ocean, California cops say. ‘Like something out of a movie’

A man is in the hospital after driving his SUV off a cliff and into the ocean in southern California, according to authorities.

The driver was merging from Palomar Airport Road to Carlsbad Boulevard Tuesday evening when his white Subaru Forester went through a guardrail, drove off the cliff and crashed onto the beach below, Carlsbad police said.

Edward Monette, a witness, told NBC7 that the SUV was going 20 to 30 mph when it flew off the cliff.

“I’m just kind of amazed. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Monette said. “It was like slow motion. Like something out of a movie.”

The man, in his 60s, was “awake and breathing” when rescuers reached him and he was taken to the hospital, 10News reported, citing the Carlsbad Fire Department..

Video of the crash shows rescuers carrying the man up the cliff and Kevin Lynds, a battalion chief with the Carlsbad Fire Department, told KSBW that the man “possibly suffered injuries to his legs, pelvis and chest area.”

Lynds told the station that someone helped pull the man out.

“We did have a Marine corpsman, a former Marine corpsman, who went down there and actually pulled the victim out,” the chief said. “I wish he had hung out because he deserves a lot of kudos.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2021 at 1:21 PM with the headline "SUV plunges off cliff into ocean, California cops say. ‘Like something out of a movie’."