The Ford F-250 that was submerged at the end of the Steamship Authority pier in Oak Bluffs — after the driver drove into the ocean Thursday evening — has been recovered.
On Tuesday morning, a crane attached to a barge was able to lift the truck from the ocean floor and plunk it down on the back of a waiting flatbed, before it was taken to a scrapyard in Oak Bluffs where it is awaiting its owner.
The owner — 50-year-old Oak Bluffs resident Justin Leblanc — was arrested Thursday and held on bail on Friday morning after allegedly evading police from a domestic dispute; police say that he rammed a cruiser before fleeing and then drove off the Steamship terminal. Security footage obtained by the Times shows Leblanc drove through a gate and straight off the terminal slip, which is closed to Steamship traffic in the winter.
State officials, U.S. Coast Guard, and Oak Bluffs police were all part of the effort on Tuesday morning, with JWL Transport contracted to retrieve the truck.
“It went well,” said Ethan Leite, the owner of JWL. “We’re all happy with how it turned out.”
The operation was delayed because of strong winds on Friday and Saturday. Over the weekend, Leite says that a team of divers hooked up rigging onto the truck while it was still submerged.
By the time the barge arrived on Tuesday morning and by the time that it was loaded onto the truck, Leite said it took about 45 minutes all and all. JWL used a subcontractor that had a crane attached to a barge to help with the operation.
Leite says that they did monitor and prepare for potential fuel leaks but did not notice any sheen.
He says that depending on the tides, the depth of water the truck landed in was about 25 feet.
I hope this guy has to reimburse the town for the recovery of his truck and repairs to the damaged cruiser.
Hope he’s paying for all the services to bail him out! Wrecked police cruisers, coast guard, police time, damages to OB SSA pier, lawyers, courts, beaten wife, and whatever else was in his path if destruction! And, not the taxpayers! What a nut!
Also the damaged terminal slip, pier and gate!
Plunk?
Looks like John Packer’s crane. I wonder if someone had to dive to connect straps to the F250?
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