CLEVELAND, OH — Former Cleveland Browns running back Greg Pruitt was rescued by Cleveland firefighters Friday after the 74-year-old attempted to drive through several feet of water that flooded Holton Avenue following a water main break.
Pruitt told News 5 Investigators he didn’t realize the water was as deep as it was until it began filling the cab of his Nissan pickup.
He said he climbed out of his sunroof to safety.
“We could hear him because he was blowing the horn,” said Monte Madden, whose family owns a truck wash and auto recycling business nearby.
Madden and his uncle pulled Pruitt’s truck out of the water.
He said he’s fed up with the flooding on a low-lying section of Holton Avenue that passes underneath a train bridge near East 90th Street.
“We have to rescue people out of our own neighborhood,” said Madden. “This is what we have to go through because we don’t live in Pepper Pike. We don’t live in Beachwood.”
Madden said street flooding when it rains has been an ongoing problem for years but seems to be getting worse.
Signs warn drivers that the road may flood, but he said many either don’t see the signs or ignore them.
Now he’s worried that if someone doesn’t do something to alleviate the lakes that form on the secluded section of street, the consequences will be deadly.
“My worry is that someone may be in a smaller car,” said Madden, “and come through here and not make it.”
