Chelan County Sheriff's deputies assist with multiple incidents

A 45-year old Orondo man lost control of his pickup on Highway 150 Monday afternoon and drifted onto the shoulder near Willow Point Park, crashing into a power transformer box, triggering a power outage affecting an estimated 500 residences.

“The driver collided with a telephone pole, breaking it off at its base, and ran over a power transformer and other utilities in the area,” said Chelan county Sheriff’s Sgt. Rob Huddleston. The highway was closed overnight for the Chelan PUD to make repairs.”

Sgt. Huddleston says the driver wasn’t hurt in the crash, but may have been under the influence of alcohol and was being processed for DUI.

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Two people suffered minor injuries after a personal watercraft struck a dock near Lakeside Park on Lake Chelan early Sunday night.

Chelan County Sheriff’s deputies said a 37-year-old Renton man operating a jet ski struck a 14-year-old girl who was on the dock. Neither suffered significant injuries.

Investigators said the operator was attempting to stop but was unable to do so before striking the dock.

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A 21-year-old man drowned in the Wenatchee River near the Dryden fishing hole on Monday.

Chelan County Fire District 6 says the man was swimming with family and friends when he waded out to the middle of the river and the river current caught him and pulled him under. He reportedly was not wearing a life jacket.

Those at the scene were unable to immediately locate him after he went underwater. He was later found beneath the surface and was pulled to shore.

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A trio of search and rescue operations in the Enchantments and near Colchuck Lake.

Chelan County Sheriff’s Emergency Management Supervisor, Sgt. Jason Reinfeld says a 30-year-old woman was reported to have suffered a broken ankle at Colchuck Lake.

A Sheriff’s helicopter responded to the lake and transported the woman to received treatment of her injury.

Last week, deputies were called to aid a group of six hikers off the Snow Lakes trailhead, and a week ago Sunday, a woman sustained a severely sprained ankle and had to be rescued from the Colchuck Lake Trail by wheeled litter, finally reaching an aid vehicle at dawn the next morning.

Last year, the Chelan County Sheriff’s deputies and search and rescue volunteers responded to 31 calls for help.