Rescue divers pull car from creek

Vernon County Ambulance district swiftwater rescue divers Joe Brant, left, and Richard Smith, right, help to haul a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier out of the creek on Thursday. According to one police officer at the scene, at about 12:19 on Thursday a citizen came into the Nevada police station to report that a car was in the Birch Branch creek near south Ash and the railroad tracks. The divers quickly determined that the car was unoccupied and a wrecker was called in to pull the car out of the water. Investigators for the Nevada Police Department determined that the accident occurred at around 2 a.m. Thursday morning when Jeremiah Ellifrits, Nevada, was going south on Ash and left the roadway 180 feet north of the railroad tracks. The car struck the tracks and went airborne for approximately 65 feet before striking the creek bank and coming to a rest in the water. Ellifrits was issued two citations, one for leaving the scene of an accident and the other for careless and imprudent driving.