Alleged Drunken Driver Hits Calif. Ladder Truck

A Roseville ladder truck was struck and a firefighter was almost hit by a suspected drunken driver at the scene of a previous call on Wednesday night, according to The Roseville Press-Tribune.

Crews were on the 700 block of Sunrise Boulevard working on a water leak from a broken pipe in the attic of a retirement home around 9:30 p.m. when a 1992 Mazda sedan drove through the scene outside the structure.

The driver, Thomas Rolland Michael, struck a parked ladder truck and narrowly missed a firefighter who was working in the area.

"The firefighter said he had to take evasive action to avoid getting hit," Assistant Chief Jeff Carman told the newspaper. "The driver kept on going as if he had no intention of stopping,"

The firefighter was able to take the man's keys and detained him until police officers arrived.

He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license and is being held in custody in the Placer County Jail on $50,000 bail.

No firefighters were injured and the ladder truck sustained only minor damage.