Car slams through fence on Walnut Street and lands in Tonawanda Creek

A 21-year-old man was able to get himself out of his van early this morning after he drove it through a barrier on Walnut Street and into the Tonawanda Creek.

A witness said the van appeared to have crashed through the barrier at a high rate of speed and a police source said he may have been drinking.

No official police report is available this morning.

The accident occurred shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the turn of Walnut Street into South Main.

Cassandra Costner, who lives with her husband and children right at the intersection, said her family was sleeping when they heard a large boom. She looked out the window and saw the barrier down and called 9-1-1.

When she came outside, she said she and her husband were surprised by what they found.

"We saw the car in the creek and were like, 'Oh, wow, crazy,'" she said.

Costner said the driver came up the bank of the creek saying, "I'm OK. I'm OK. It's not as bad as it looks."

The driver was reportedly transported to UMMC by Mercy EMS, but no information has been released on his injuries, if any.

While at least one witness said he saw somebody running from the scene, Costner said she didn't see anybody at the scene other than the driver.

The van went through a wooden, reinforced barrier, a chain-link fence, over a boulder and down about 10 feet of embankment before landing in the water.

"We've lived here six years and never seen a car go in the creek," Costner said. "It's just crazy that somebody was going that fast, but people go flying down this road. It's gotten better since they put in the roundabout, but people just haul ass down this road."