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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Huntsville Police are searching for the driver of a vehicle that crashed into the water at Big Spring Park.

HPD showed up at the park after a security guard told them someone crashed a car into the water of a canal.

Police said the driver appeared to lose control of the vehicle on Spragins Street around 2:00 a.m., and the Volkswagen Jetta ended up going down the stairs near Huntsville Utilities, finally coming to rest partially submerged in the water.

When a WHNT News 19 crew arrived on the scene around 3:00 a.m., the driver’s side door was open, lights were on inside the car, and the windshield wipers were running.

By 6:00 a.m., the car was removed, but pieces of the car and the tire tracks were still visible.

One resident that lives in the area says it was an unusual place to run off the road. “You know, if there was a road beside it, it would be different,” said Mary Ann Maher. “They might’ve hit the wrong road but this is very strange and they probably didn’t want to be caught.”

By the time police showed up at the scene, they said the woman driving the vehicle had run off.

Police say the car was impounded and evidence from inside was taken to the jail. The remaining pieces of the car were removed from the scene by Huntsville city workers.

Maher says things like this don’t happen often, but it’s definitely not the first time.

“Over by Embassy Suites, in the canal over there, a year or two ago there was another car and I can understand how it did it because there’s a road beside it where he just missed the road and went down in,” said Maher.

The entire scene was cleared within five hours.

If you have information about the wreck or the driver of the vehicle, you can reach out to Huntsville Police at 256-722-7100.