SUV pulled from Cal-Sag Channel

Firefighters from at least seven departments showed up at the boat ramp near 115th Street and Harlem Avenue to find the SUV submerged about 10 feet off the end of a boat ramp, its headlights still shining up through the water's surface.

The man, driving alone, backed his vehicle down to the ramp at about 7 p.m., thinking he could see if a tire was leaking, said a friend who arrived on the scene later to bring him dry clothes.

As he stood by the vehicle looking for bubbles, the SUV suddenly rolled backward into the water. The man tried to get in the driver's side and step on the brake, but only ended up getting soaked, the friend said.

Mike Nilles, 15, lives a short distance from the boat ramp and saw the man running around a nearby parking lot in a panic.

"It looked worse," he said, "from the way the guy was running."

 By 8:30 p.m. the parking lot was filled with fire trucks and other emergency vehicles. The response was so great because initial reports didn't indicate there was no one in the submerged vehicle, police said.

 At about 9 p.m., firefighters pulled the vehicle from the channel. The driver was unhurt. He declined to speak with reporters and neither he nor his friend wanted to provide their names

 "He feels very stupid," the friend said.

Andrew L. Wang, Chicago Tribune

Wendy E. Normandy