Man in SUV crashes into Lake St. Clair during Monday's snow

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WJBK) - Crews worked to pull a vehicle out of Lake St. Clair after it went off the road and into the water Monday morning

As of 9:45 a.m., the car was still in the water and tracks were visible that showed the path the car took when it skidded off the road and into the water.

The man behind the wheel was 50-year-old Richard Belisle. The St. Clair Shores man slid his SUV into the choppy water and was pulled from the frigid lake.

When FOX 2's Erika Erickson caught up with him, he was walking around the snowy street in socks!

"My shoes got soaking wet," he said.

Belisle had just been released from the hospital and is thankful to be alive:

He was on his way home Monday when he lost control of his Chevy Trailblazer. The culprit: black ice.

"I just saw the car slide," said one witness. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh.'"

Bellisle had been driving near Webber Place and Lake Shore Road at the time of the accident.

"As I was approaching the inside lane I lost control on some black ice," he said.

Belisle says as his SUV began to sink, his power windows stopped working -- so he had to break the glass and climb out.

"Right out through the door window," he said. "Squeezed in the gut and I (had to) go for the gusto. I'm like, 'Dukes of Hazzard, go right on top of the car and make a jump for the shore."

Swimming in the icy water, Belisle said he began screaming for help. Two officers at the scene were able to pull him from the car.

"They had to make a human chain to pull me up," he said.

FOX 2: "Weren't you freezing?"

"Yes I was," he said.

But Belisle had a good laugh with the police before he was sent to the hospital.

"I got a few scrapes on my legs but I'm here," he said.

His wife Kelly was at work when she got the alarming call.

"One thing that's the best (thing) about it is he can joke," she said. "If he wasn't joking about it I'd be a little worried."

In the end, both are feeling extremely grateful to the police who pulled him to safety.

"They put their lives at risk in regards to saving him," Kelly said. "I know that's their job but they went above and beyond."

And Richard Belisle is feeling pretty lucky.

With the cold temperatures, the evening commute is also expected to be impacted. To check for accidents on your route, visit our traffic page at www.fox2detroit.com/traffic.

Watch weather and traffic updates on the 2s at www.fox2detroit.com/live. 

Some schools are closed this Monday morning, but are mostly due still to power outages from last week's wind storm. You can check our school closings list here.