Photo: Ian Bailey, Creative Commons

Nelson's Kootenay Lake nearly had its inanimate population increase by one last Friday night when a shopping cart took a temporary dip in the drink.

Quick action by city police narrowly averted a four-wheeled marine disaster.

Nelson Police Department (NPD) officers were called to a crime in progress Friday night when a group of teenagers attempted to submerge a shopping cart in Kootenay Lake.

Officers were already in the area when the call came in and arrived on the scene within moments, said NPD special Const. Silk Edwards in a press release.

“Initially, the three teenagers denied any involvement. However, when informed that a witness had seen them in the act, the guilty party admitted responsibility and agreed to retrieve the cart from the water,” she said.

Thanks to the timely and heroic rescue efforts, the cart was saved before sustaining damage. Allegedly, no CPR needed to be administered to the soggy cart, although it was visibly shaken by the experience.

The youth were given a warning for their behaviour and were then transported into the custody of their parents, Edwards explained.