A Sheridan Police Department SUV was swallowed by a sinkhole that opened up beneath it unexpectedly at about 2.15 am local time on Friday 5 June 2015. The single occupant of the vehicle, police sergeant Greg Miller, was able to craw out of the hole, which was about four meters deep, and was treated for minor injuries at the Swedish Medical Center. The car has been described as a 'total loss'.
Police vehicle in a sinkhole in Sheridan, Colorado, on Friday 5 June 2015. 9 news.
Sinkholes are generally caused by water eroding soft limestone or unconsolidated deposits from beneath, causing a hole that works its way upwards and eventually opening spectacularly at the surface. Where there are unconsolidated deposits at the surface they can infill from the sides, apparently swallowing objects at the surface, including people, without trace.
The approximate location of the 5 June 2015 Sheridan sinkhole. Google Maps.
On this occasion the sinkhole appears to have occurred after heavy rain overloaded a storm drain beneath the road, causing it to burst and enabling the water to erode away soft sediment beneath the road.
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