PORT TOWNSEND — A car was successfully removed from Sandy Shore Lake after the driver left it in neutral and it rolled into the lake, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said.

The Sheriff’s Office received a call about the car in the lake south of Port Ludlow at about 11:48 a.m. Tuesday and had the car towed out of the lake by 1 p.m., Sgt. Brett Anglin said.

The bystander who called to report the vehicle being in the water initially said there was a wallet and cellphone seen near the car, but when deputies arrived, no one was in the area.

They searched the area for possible victims and found nothing, Anglin said.

The car was rented from, and returned to, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which later identified the driver as a Port Townsend resident, Anglin said.

The driver — who has not been identified, as no criminal charge has been made — was contacted Wednesday by deputies. He told them he got out of the car and mistakenly left it in neutral, Anglin said.

The car rolled into the lake, and the driver remained at the lake for three hours before hitchhiking back to Port Townsend, he said.

________

Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached by email at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com or by phone at 360-385-2335, ext. 5.