The driver was delivering Uber Eats and unfamiliar with the area when he followed GPS into the woods.
BELFAIR, Wash. — Sam Cadle wanted to drive tow trucks so he could help people.
On Sunday night, the Belfair man used his feet, not his tow truck, to help an Uber Eats driver who became stranded after following GPS directions onto a private road.
Cadle of North Shore Towing said the driver, a man in his early 20s who was unfamiliar with the area, called for help after getting stuck while making a delivery.
“In Mason County, and a lot of Washington, you can make one wrong turn down a road, and before you know it, it’s getting worse and narrow and worse and narrow, and you’re stuck somewhere,” said Cadle.
Cadle said he first tried to determine the driver’s location, but reaching him was not simple. By about 10:30 p.m., he said he could not take his tow truck onto the private property.
He later found an old logging road, but said that route was barricaded and also blocked access.
With no way to drive in, Cadle said he hiked about a half-mile into the woods. Around 12:30 a.m., he found the driver, walked him back out and took him to his mother.
”She was thrilled. She was happy. She said, you didn’t really have to do that. And I said, well, you know, I kind of do that’s part of what we do,” said Cadle.
He said he did not charge the stranded driver.
”I’m not charging somebody for something like that. That’s my time. I mean, you know, sure, I’m in my tow truck here that belongs to the company, but that’s my time. I’m wandering out through the woods. I’m not getting paid for it. I it’s my time, and I chose to go help him,” said Cadle.
After getting permission from the Department of Natural Resources to enter the area, Cadle and an co-worker took an excavator out to the car to recover it Monday.
Cadle said the situation is a reminder for drivers to trust their instincts when something seems off.
“If something doesn’t feel right, stop and reassess before you get yourself in trouble. Not everyone out there feels the obligation to help people and get them to safety,” Cadle said.
He said helping people sometimes goes beyond towing cars.
“I’ve been in this industry a lot of years and that’s always been my take is that I’m here to help people no matter what that looks like sometimes that’s a lot of long hours. That’s losing sleep. That’s part of the job,” Cadle said. “Whether or not I got his car out of there the next day, I wanted to make sure that he was a person was safe and that he got help when no one else would come help him.”
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