Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue firefighters and Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies responded around 8 p.m. Tuesday night to the Tracyton boat launch on NW Tracy Avenue in East Bremerton concerning a report that a car drove off the boat launch into the water. A neighbor called 911 after witnessing the incident.

The 57-year-old woman who called 911 told a sheriff’s deputy she and her husband were putting up Christmas lights when they noticed a car at the boat launch. She said the vehicle was driven off the ramp onto the muddy beach and, moments later, they saw and heard the car accelerating down the ramp toward the water.

Firefighters and deputies found the red Saturn floating in the water about 40 feet from shore with its lights on.

The woman told the deputy she saw two teenagers run to another vehicle, jump inside and take off on Tracy Avenue.

Local search and rescue divers were called in to search the car and assist in pulling the vehicle out of the water. City Towing secured a tow line and the car was pulled from the water around 11:30 p.m.

Divers got the license plate number on the submerged vehicle and a deputy discovered that a 33-year-old Belfair man was the registered owner and had been involved in a traffic collision in Bremerton in October. The car had major structural damage on the hood and left front corner.

The deputy attempted to call the Belfair man and spoke with his mother. She said she would have her son return his call.