Schuylkill River

Another vehicle plunges into Philadelphia's Schuylkill River

A witness said he heard a 'boom' then saw an SUV dropping below the water on Sept. 10, 2024

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Another morning, another search for a car in Philadelphia's Schuylkill River.

Philadelphia police confirmed they were called to the banks of the Schuylkill River around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday after a receiving a 911 call that an SUV -- originally believed to be a Jeep -- had gone into the water off Kelly Driver, near Brewery Hill Drive.

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Jamil Wright said he was the one who called 911.

"I was just sitting in my car and I heard a boom, I turned around and looked and then I saw a car floating," Wright told NBC10 News.

Wright said the SUV appeared to be a Jeep and that he saw the lights of the car go under.

Philadelphia police said the dive team would arrive to locate the reportedly sunken vehicle.

"It is unknown at this time if vehicle was occupied or not," investigators said in a 9 a.m. police report.

By 9:30 a.m., police said they had located the vehicle, which turned out to be a Honda CR-V, Police Marine Unit Lt. Andrew Napoli said.

A spokesperson with the Philadelphia Police Department confirmed that crews do not believe anyone was inside the vehicle or that anyone is missing.

Officials said the CR-V had been stolen.

This is at least the third time in the past month that a car went into the Schuylkill River off the Kelly Drive. Those earlier incidents included a car that went in after a couple accidently put it in gear while police said they were "getting busy."

Tuesday's incident gave the police marine unit an opportunity to hone the team's skills.

"Our best training is actually live jobs we have like this... we just can't through a car in the water and do training on it," Napoli said.

"The divers know what to do... we hook them the best we can," Napoli said.

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