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Home > News > Deputy rescued family whose truck got stuck in the Foothills on Shaw Mtn. Road

Deputy rescued family whose truck got stuck in the Foothills on Shaw Mtn. Road

An ACSO deputy drove over six miles up the snow and ice-covered Shaw Mountain Road late Thursday afternoon to find a 47-year-old Boise man and five pre-teenage children who were stuck after the man’s pickup truck slid off the road earlier in the day.

The man and the kids with him were not uninjured. They had food with them and they were able to stay in the truck to keep warm until deputies arrived.

The man called 911 just after 3 p.m. Thursday. His initial call went to Boise County Sheriff’s 911 dispatchers. They told him Boise County deputies could not get to where he was because Shaw Mountain Road was not plowed on the Boise County side.

Then the call went to our dispatch center. A short time later, ACSO deputy Zach Helbach and vehicle shop employee Rob Scherzer were on their way to find the group.

They had to stop to chain up the tires just past where Shaw Mountain Road switches from pavement to a dirt road.

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On their way up the road, they have met three recreationists on four-wheelers, who led our deputy to where the truck was stuck – over the summit and headed downhill — just after 5 p.m.


Because the man’s truck was stuck so far up the hill and over the summit, Deputy Helbach borrowed one of the four-wheelers to check out how far they would have to go north to get to plowed roads in Boise County, instead of trying to turn around and back the way they came.

It turns out the plowed road was only 2 miles north of where the truck was stuck.

So Helbach and Schrezer loaded everyone into the ACSO truck and drove through to Boise County, via Robie Creek Road, where they met two Boise County Sheriff’s deputies. The all three drove the man and the children back to Boise.

This was the second call in two weeks where someone got stuck on Shaw Mountain Road and had to call 911 for help. In the other case, a man had to walk downhill to call 911. Our deputy, in that case, could not get all the way to where the car was because of road conditions.

We really need people to be careful if they decide to drive on remote roads in the Foothills and other far-flung areas of the county this winter.

Having to send deputies on to snow and ice-covered road to get people who are stuck put those deputies in danger and keeps them from being able to respond for calls for service here in town.

We also aren’t equipped to dislodge or tow out trucks or cars that are stuck.

People who do get stuck have to hire a tow truck service to go up to those areas and tow out their vehicles, a process that can cost hundreds of dollars or more.

So our best advice is to be careful, and don’t drive on remote snow and ice-covered roads this winter unless you absolutely have to.