BAXTER-A Baxter woman said her dog jumped into her lap and blocked her view when her car ended up in a shallow pond Friday afternoon.
Shortly after 3:30 p.m., Nyla Skogland, 76, was driving eastbound on Clearwater Road in Baxter when the crash occurred. The Baxter Police Department responded to the scene, where the passenger car Skogland drove was submerged in about 2 feet of water.
Skogland said her 7-year-old shih tzu Maggie, who she'd adopted just two weeks earlier, jumped from the backseat into her lap. Skogland said she was told Maggie was "real good in the car" when she adopted her.
"Her body was in my face," Skogland said.
The vehicle appeared to hit a driveway approach on the north side of the road and veered close to a power pole, through a small stand of trees and into the pond on the 6700 block of Clearwater Road.
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Amber Johnson, 38, lives in the home directly next to the pond. She was in her home when she heard a smash outside, she said. Her son arrived home at the same time and told his mother to come outside. Once she realized what occurred, Johnson, a registered nurse, was concerned Skogland might need medical treatment.
Neither Skogland nor Maggie suffered injury in the crash. The vehicle sustained damage to its front bumper, visible when tow trucks removed it from the pond, and the interior flooded according to responders at the scene.
"I missed the electric pole, thank heavens," Skogland said. "It happened so fast, I just didn't have time to think."
CHELSEY PERKINS may be reached at 218-855-5874 or chelsey.perkins@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchChelsey .
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