A 47-year-old man died in a single vehicle car crash early Thursday morning, as he was unable to escape a vehicle that upside down in a ditch submerged in water.<\/p>\n
Police said the man — identified as Matthew Curtis Beecroft — was a passenger in a blue Nissan Xterra that went off the roadway in the 9300 block of Glacier Highway and overturned onto its roof.<\/p>\n
Responding police officers and EMTs found the vehicle resting in about three feet of water, and the driver — a 30-year-old man who escaped with minor injuries — told them the passenger was still trapped inside the vehicle.<\/p>\n
“Officers attempted to remove the passenger from the vehicle, but the passenger was pinned against a part of the vehicle that was completely submerged,” the Juneau Police Department release said<\/a>. “JPD and CCFR confirmed the passenger, identified as a 47-year-old male, was deceased.”<\/p>\n A police investigation into the crash is still ongoing, with JPD detectives and an accident reconstruction team investigating.<\/p>\n Alcohol consumption does appear to be a factor in the cause of the crash, JPD said.<\/p>\n “The initial investigation shows that the driver of the vehicle had been at a local liquor establishment in the Auke Bay area and had picked up the passenger to give him a ride,” the release states. “The vehicle was travelling from the direction of Egan Drive\/\/Mendenhall Loop Road, towards the airport, when the vehicle lost control, overturned and went into the ditch.”<\/p>\n The driver, a Juneau resident, was transported to the Bartlett Regional Hospital for evaluation, due to minor injuries sustained during the crash. A search warrant was obtained for his blood to determine his blood alcohol concentration. The driver was released from custody, pending analysis of the blood draw.<\/p>\n \u2022 Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n
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