Pair tell law enforcement submerged vehicle was stolen
Staff writer
Justin M. Kaylor, 34, Colorado, was arrested on a Colorado warrant after abandoning a Chrysler four-door sedan in several feet of water around 9:56 a.m. Monday on 1/2 Mile Rd. in Ramona, ¼-mile west of B St.
Kaylor and his 42-year-old female companion told law enforcement the vehicle was stolen, but that couldn’t be confirmed because the license plate was obscured by high water, and it couldn’t be reached, sheriff Robert Craft said.
“Since it’s partially submerged we could only get half and guess,” he said. “We couldn’t guarantee it.”
“They told us it wasn’t theirs, and I have to take their word for it at this point.”
Kaylor’s companion was escorted to Marion and dropped off by a sheriff’s deputy since she had no warrants or apparent reason to arrest her, Craft said.
Muddy roads and high water hampered the investigation, he said.
“If you want to walk through waist-deep water and mud for ¼-mile, that’s what they did,” he said.
The two were reported at 9:22 a.m. driving around Ramona asking for gas money.
Driving a dirt road after the weekend’s rain storms was a prospect Ramona mayor Bill Alcorn wouldn’t consider even with his skid steer.
“I could make it if that water wasn’t down there,” he said. “I won’t even go down there even if there’s just a little rain. I know this road.”
Getting stuck on the road is no rarity, Alcorn said, with several incidents each year.
“At least half a dozen,” he said. “Every year they try to make it down this road, and they can’t.”