Car Towed From Fort Howard Waters, No One Injured

At a time of year when some people hope to find a new car—or at least the keys to one—under the Christmas tree, Fort Howard residents on Saturday were surprised to see an old, battered car washed under a local pier.

Several days after the Dodge Neon with all its windows broken out was pulled from the waters off Todd Avenue, little is known about the vehicle or about how it got there, almost "perfectly parked" under some pilings.

Baltimore County police, fire and rescue and aviation personnel reported to a Todd Avenue road ending Saturday to respond to calls about a car that had washed up on the shore, according to Baltimore County police spokeswoman Louise Rogers-Feher.

Nearby neighbors said it was a big scene, with multiple pieces of rescue equipment screaming in to the normally quiet neighborhood, and a helicopter circling overhead.

Rogers-Feher said fire engines from Edgemere and Sparrows Point did respond, as did aviation, but Sparrows Point's Engine 57 left "before even getting involved."

The car was thoroughly checked to make sure there was no one in it, according to the spokeswoman who noted the car was almost "perfectly parked" under a small pier jut-out.

"We popped the trunk to make sure no one was inside, that there wasn't a body inside," Rogers-Feher said. "Bottom line is this incident was a waste of resources—it took resources away from what could have been a real need for them somewhere else."

An onlooker, Jake Jacobs, took photographs of the car being towed out of the water which show the rear license plate still attached.

Rogers-Feher said police officials would try to track down the car's owner.

"Was the car stolen, was this a joy ride and then the car was dumped?" Rogers-Feher said. "We'll be looking into that. But no one was hurt and there were no bodies."