Young Driver Escapes Icy Plunge At Green Lake

SPICER (WJON News) -- A Paynesville man is okay after the vehicle he was driving broke through thin ice.

The Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office says the incident happened at about 7:00 p.m. Sunday near the Rush Brown Landing Public Water Access on Green Lake.

Twenty-two-year-old Blake Hiltner was able to get out of the vehicle and was not hurt. He was driving an SUV about 100 yards from shore when the front of the vehicle broke through the ice. Hiltner was able to exit the vehicle through a window before it became fully submerged in about eight feet of water.

Measurements were taken at the vehicle's breakthrough location and revealed about three to five inches of ice. That area appeared to be a path that had been driven a number of times in recent days.