San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office unveils its new dive team

New dive team recovers decades old stolen car from the San Joaquin Delta

New dive team recovers decades old stolen car from the San Joaquin Delta

New dive team recovers decades old stolen car from the San Joaquin Delta

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office now has a new dive team. At one of its trainings Wednesday, deputies retrieved a stolen car that's been underwater for more than a decade.

The truck, which has been submerged under water since 2010, was brought back on land by the new dive team.

The team has trained more than 80 hours.

Rescue and recovery missions, wrecks, and illegal dumping of cars can happen at anytime. In the past, the sheriff's office said it had to wait for another agency to come help, but now, with access to its own dive team, the response time will be a lot quicker.

"So in the past, we did we have to rely on other agencies to come in and assist, but sometimes that would take hours," said Heather Brent, a San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office spokesperson. "We needed an immediate response, especially in this area where we have so many waterways."

The sheriff's office said emergency calls that require help underwater happen weekly.

"Since February, we've actually had five times that our dive team had to be activated and deployed out to the waterways. Unfortunately, three of those incidents ended up being recovery missions, but we were able to give closure to those families," Brent said.

Leo Conn is a lieutenant with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.

"The divers will go down, attempt to get eyes on the vehicle. Try to get a plate or anything else related to markings for the vehicle and then they will attach rigging for the tow truck," Conn said.

In the future the sheriff's office is looking to add six more people to its dive team.

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