Man rescued from under his truck after early morning crash in Mission Bay

A man was rescued after being pinned underneath his truck in Mission Bay early Wednesday morning, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. 

The crash happened just before 7 a.m. on the bay side of the San Diego Mission Bay Resort, Jeff Phillips, a battalion chief with SDFD, said. The driver appeared to have driven down the walking and biking path, then attempted to drive onto a short pier when the truck rolled onto its side.

“It was super loud,” Laura Acosta, who was asleep in a nearby hotel room, told NBC 7. “Like a motor. Like a really loud motor, like, 'Vroom, vroom,’ revving, a motor revving."

Acosta said her husband then pulled back their curtains and they noticed the truck at the base of the pier, facing the bay, resting on the passenger side. The driver was stuck underneath the passenger window with his leg sticking through the windshield. 

Acosta added it felt “like every first responder in the city of San Diego was here.”

The San Diego Police Department rushed to help the man, alongside firefighters, including members of the SDFD technical rescue team and lifeguards, according to Phillips. First responders managed to stabilize the truck, which proved difficult since it was partially on the sand, and pulled the man to safety. He appeared to have some injuries and was taken to the hospital. 

“They were frantically digging under the car,” Acosta said. “It’s a little unnerving, you know, that a guy could just get on this track.” 

Nick Gioffre told NBC 7 he rides his bicycle down the same path at least once or twice each week with his two young daughters. He said he was “stunned” and that this is not like something he had seen in the area before. 

“This is a very popular spot, people running and taking their kids on the bike,” Giofre said. “Imagine coming around that corner and that thing’s coming at me.” 

The truck had a white camper in the bed, with some stickers and what appeared to be an air-conditioning unit. “I thought it was like a delivery car for a second because I saw that air conditioner and I’m like, ‘No, that’s not a delivery truck. That's a camper van.”

Hours later, the truck was towed from the crash site at around 11 a.m. There was some damage to the pier including broken wood railing. A representative for the San Diego Mission Bay Resort did not wish to comment on the ownership of the pier. NBC 7 reached out to the city of San Diego to learn if it is considered city property and to learn plans for repairs.

"The San Diego Mission Bay Resort is a lessee of the city, and the dock is part of its leasehold," said Tara Lewis of the city's communications department. "They own and maintain it. It is not a public dock."

The area was closed for a couple of hours while first responders cleared the scene. It is not clear what the cause of the crash was. The San Diego Police Department is investigating.