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A Colorado police officer had to climb onto the roof of his SUV and pull himself out from below the earth's surface after a massive sinkhole swallowed his patrol car.

Sheridan police Sergeant Greg Miller was driving through an intersection around 2:15 a.m. Friday when the road beneath him gave way, sending his SUV plummeting 10 to 15 feet, reported NBC affiliate KUSA in Denver.

Gallery: Sinkholes Open Across the Earth

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"Next thing I know ... dirt - I'm assuming dust from the airbag - was floating around," Miller told KUSA. "I hear the rushing water, and all I see is a dirt wall in front of me."

Miller was trapped.

"The door wouldn't open, so I had to crawl through the window," he said. "I reached up, grabbed the rails at the top of the roof, pulled myself up, got on top of the car, and that's when I reached up and pulled myself up out of the hole."

The area was closed off to traffic after police discovered an exposed gas line at the sinkhole.

The sergeant was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and then was released. His police car is a total loss, KUSA reported.

"I'd rather it be me than somebody - a citizen - driving down the road or kids in the car," Miller told KUSA.