Woman airlifted to hospital after car crashes into Runnells pond

A woman was airlifted to a hospital after crashing her car into a Runnells pond Wednesday night.

At about 7:30 p.m. emergency crews responded to a report of a car submerged in a pond near the intersection of SE 108th Street and SE 32nd Ave. Two officers from the Pleasant Hill Police Department arrived on the scene and found an adult female inside the vehicle. They entered the water, broke out a window, and rescued the woman.

Officials say she was conscious and semi-alert. She was transported to a Des Moines hospital by air ambulance, and her current condition is not known.

The two Pleasant Hill police officers who jumped into the pond to rescue the woman did require medical treatment. One suffered an injury to his leg and hypothermia and was transported to a hospital for treatment and released. The other officer was treated on the scene for hypothermia.

Dive team members from Metro STAR who responded to the scene determined the woman was the only person in the vehicle.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said the driver was traveling southbound on SE 108th Street and drove through the T intersection. She drove approximately 40 yards through trees, down an embankment, and then into the pond.

An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.