Man drives car into Ship Canal, refuses rescue

Police recovered a man's body Thursday morning after he drove a Nissan Sentra into Seattle's Ship Canal at high speed overnight then refused to be rescued by a police boat, officials said.

About 11:30 p.m. Wednesday officers were looking for a car that was seen speeding on Queen Anne, said Neil Low of the Seattle police. The car is thought to have been stolen from Phinney Ridge.

As they were investigating, they saw a cloud of dust off Ewing Place, and witnesses pointed them to where a car was seen driving through a gate and into the water at high speed.

"The officers went down to the water -- saw the car in the water, lights in the water," Low said.

The driver of the car came to the surface of the water but refused to be rescued by a police patrol boat.

Officers in the harbor unit threw him a rope four times, but the man wouldn't grab it, police said. He also pushed away an officer who tried to grab him.

He then went underwater.

Police say the car's license plates don't match the car.

The car earlier was described as having four people inside it, but there were no bodies in the car when officers went to investigate. They did find a jacket with some keys in the water, and 0ne door of the car was open underwater.

The King County Medical Examiner's office will take custody of the body while police investigate the incident.