UPDATE: Car that went into river was apparently stolen, being chased by police

Driver, outside of car, was pulled from 18 feet of water.

UPDATE: An apparent car theft leads to a police chase, led to a water rescue at Isle La Plume.

Just before 5 p.m. Sunday, being chased by police, a car jumped the curb near the Niedbalski bridge along Norplex Dr. and went into the slough of the Mississippi River.

Within minutes rescue crews were there, pulling the driver from the bottom of the river in 18 feet of water. Crews found the driver outside the vehicle in the river.

The car clipped a tree, a traffic sign and an electrical box before hitting the water. 

“There was obviously some speed involved with the accident,” La Crosse Fire Dept. division chief Tom Wallerich said.

That crash occurred past the end of the new guardrail, which was recently installed on the west side of Norplex – put in following the deaths of two drivers whose cars went into the water. 

The driver was badly injured in the incident.