Calif. man arrested after driving SUV into subway tunnel

By msnbc.com staff

SAN FRANCISCO – Police arrested the driver of an SUV after he headed straight down a tunnel into San Francisco subway system, causing massive delays during Thursday morning’s commute.

Muni Metro spokesman Paul Rose told NBCBayArea. com in San Francisco the vehicle drove into a tunnel on Church Street shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday and headed east toward the Van Ness Station.

The SUV stopped when it got stuck on the tracks, police said.

Police say 40-year-old Scott Mitchell of Sebastopol, Calif., was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, failure to obey a stop sign and driving on train tracks.

"It appears he just drove into the tunnel and his vehicle got stuck when it hit a concrete step," Officer Albie Esparza told The Associated Press. "We believe he was under the influence of alcohol. It's very fortunate that nobody was injured."

No trains were involved, police said.

Witnesses said the driver was traveling about 40 mph when he drove into the the tunnel.

"The whole thing was very surreal," Randall Gerstbacher told the San Francisco Chronicle.

All underground train lines were shut down for hours while crews removed the vehicle and inspected the system, according to San Francisco newspapers.

Trains resumed service by 8:15 a.m., but service was slow moving.

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