According to a good Samaritan, it was a good start to a Monday morning after he witnessed an off-duty Police officer fall asleep at the wheel and drive his car into the water.

Elbow Beach Hotel corporate sales manager Lawrence (Rocky) Fox said he was coming out of St. David's when, about 100 yards down the road - near the first corner going in to St. David's - he saw the officer driving his civilian car when “it just kind of spun out,” he said.

The car went over the embankment and began to sink into the water, he said. “I sped up and I could see him. The car was tilting to one side, sinking.”

The officer first attempted to get out from the driver's side, Mr. Fox said, however as that side was lower in the water, the door was pinned. The officer then moved to the passenger side and Mr. Fox helped him force the door open and escape.

“I could see he was in shock, he kind of stumbled into me,” Mr. Fox said. He helped support the officer as they waded back to the embankment and solid ground.

The officer did not seem injured, “just shaken up”, and another passer-by called 911. “Police and Fire arrived simultaneously, they got there within two minutes. It was a very quick response.”

When the Police arrived, however, they saw the officer and Mr. Fox in their soaking wet clothes, and naturally assumed it was Mr. Fox who had been in the accident, not the officer, he said. Mr. Fox soon explained the situation, however.

The car was almost fully submerged, he said, however it had stopped sinking - so when the officer noted he had left a briefcase full of documents inside, Mr. Fox went and rescued that too.

“It seemed like it all happened very quickly,” he said.

The Royal Gazette was unable to get a statement from Police on the accident by last night.