A 68-year-old St. Louis man apparently tried to kill himself by driving into the Meramec River at the Flamm City boat access area off Telegraph Road in Arnold. The man recently had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and given two months to live, Arnold Police reported.
Members of the Rock Community Fire Protection District and an Arnold Police officer got the man out of the car before it was fully submerged in the river. Then, the man was transported by Rock Township Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County for evaluation, the report said.
The man called police at about 3:15 p.m. June 27 from the Circle K gas station, 504 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold. He allegedly told police he would be dead in 10 minutes because he was going to drive his car into the river and drown himself, according to the report.
When police arrived at the gas station, the man was gone. Officers looked for him at nearby Arnold City Park on Bradley Beach Road off Jeffco Boulevard near the Meramec River, but he was not there, the report said.
Then, police found the man’s car at the Flamm City boat access area with its front wheels touching the river water. When he saw officers arrive, the man allegedly drove the car onto the boat ramp and into the river, Arnold Police reported.
The front of the car was submerged in the water when he was rescued. The car could not be towed from the river because of the rising water, and as of June 29, it was still in the river, Detective Lt. Jason Valentine said.