Two women were rescued after the SUV crashed upside down from the road.
The accident occurred on February 22 at 1am local time at 1am on 100th anniversary, according to the Arapaho County Sheriff's Office.
Police were notified of the accident when the man called it and flagged officers upon arrival.
He told them he witnessed a black SUV speed past him, then flew off the road and jumped into a creek bed filled with snow, rocks and brushes, the sheriff's office said.
The deputies were then able to find the vehicle and help pull out one woman.
The second woman could only be removed by using the jaw of life in an SUV.
Police said the man who witnessed the accident and flagged police was welcomed as a good Samaritan with the responsibility of saving the lives of the two women.
“The witness was in the right place at the right time. It was late at night, very few on the road, and the chances of these two women survived were slim, with no particular way to escape, sinking upside down in the frigid seas,” Derek Helveston said.
Patrol Lt. Colonel Mike Reed pointed out that without the witnesses, officers would not have been able to find the vehicle in the darkness and the debris of the night.
He added that he doesn't believe anyone survived the crash, given the amount of damage to the vehicle and how it landed upside down in the stream.
“The women were submerged in frozen water for 15-20 minutes in just a few inches of breathing chamber,” Reed said. “If they hadn't found them at that moment, they would have succumbed to hypothermia within minutes. This would have been a completely different outcome.”
Both women were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries.
The sheriff's office said the 22- and 24-year-olds were extremely drunk.
The driver is charged with driving under the influence.
