Teen travels through sewers

Associated Press

PARMA

An overflowing creek in a Cleveland suburb sent a 14-year-old boy on an unpleasant ride.

Jeffrey LaPorta traveled more than a quarter of a mile through multiple storm-sewer pipes, at times completely submerged in water, before finding enough breathing room to await rescue. He was eventually pulled out of the sewer in less than an hour, with only scrapes and bruises.

The teen was riding his bike with a friend Tuesday through puddles created by the rising creek, which flows near a strip mall parking lot in Parma. He fell into the overflowing water just off the edge of the parking lot and was forced into a drain pipe — roughly 2 feet in diameter, authorities said.

“The water was moving so quickly it sucked him into the drain,” said Doug Turner, a spokesman for the Parma Fire Department. “It sucked him in and pulled him probably 100 yards, full of water, where he couldn’t take his breath.”

The pipe carried Jeffrey underneath the parking lot and into the suburb’s storm sewer. He was then shifted into pipes that grew increasingly larger, Turner said.

“Now the same amount of water is flowing through there with a little bit bigger of an opening, so his head actually bobs above water a couple times.”

The pipes sent Jeffrey under four lanes of traffic, placing him across the street from where he was riding his bike.

At some point, the water became waist-deep, Turner said.

“He’s able to grab ahold of something and stop and wedge himself in there,” Turner said. “But he’s traveled about 1,500 feet from where he initially started.”

Jeffrey’s friend, Miguel Torres, said he didn’t see Jeffrey fall into the water because had his back turned. He turned around and noticed his bike in the creek.

“I heard a splash,” Miguel, 13, said in an interview. “I ran over to the creek and started looking for him.