A driver, whose car plunged into a Northern California creek, escaped the sinking station wagon by shooting out the window with his handgun.

The 28-year-old was startled by his hands-free cell phone device and veered off the bridge he was travelling on, hitting the guardrail and falling into the chilly water below. The man, who works as an armed security guard at Thunder Valley Casino, was trapped in his 2005 Ford Focus about 6 to 8 feet underwater in the 50-degree water of Pleasant Grove Creek.

After blasting the window out, the man flagged down a passer-by and was treated for minor injuries on the scene by emergency crews.