PORT ANGELES — Neither a driver nor his dog was injured when a car flew off Elwha River Road and landed 25 feet down an embankment last week.
The two had climbed out of the car and up the embankment and were standing by the side of the road when firefighters arrived at 8:38 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. Troy Tisdale of the Clallam County Fire Department No. 2.
Jonathan Schenefeld, 30, of Port Angeles was arrested on investigation of driving while intoxicated and booked into Clallam County jail, said Deputy Josh Ley on Saturday night.
Schenefeld was not listed on the jail roster on Saturday night.
The driver declined medical treatment beyond an initial assessment, according to a fire department statement.
The dog also was checked, and no injuries were found, Tisdale said.
Ley said that Schenefeld failed to negotiate a curve and the 1992 Cadillac Deville he was driving left the road and went over the embankment.
The fire department gave this account:
The driver lost control of the car as he drove west on Elwha River Road, veered off the road in the 1500 block and struck two trees on the way down the embankment.
“It appears that he braked, skidded on the asphalt, went over the embankment, flipping over and striking a large maple tree with the rear passenger compartment approximately 10 feet in the air, then coming to rest on the roof against a smaller hemlock tree and the bank,” the department’s report said.
The wreck left the vehicle upside-down, wedged between a tree and the embankment.
