Kathryn Hansman Spice, 69, Byron Spice, 78, suffer minor injuries after their car leaves the Oregon 22 roadway and crashed into Sardine Creek in Marion County.

Oregon State Police and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office are investigating an accident in which a car went off Oregon 22 west of Detroit and plunged into Sardine Creek.

According to OSP, police were alerted to the crash at 1:28 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived, they found the vehicle, which had extensive front-end damage, in the middle of the stream.

Two people who had been in the car, a 2001 Toyota Avalon, were on the bank of the stream when first responders arrived. Both reportedly had suffered minor injuries and were taken to Santiam Hospital.

Police later identified the two people as a Northeast Portland couple: Kathryn Hansman Spice, 69, was the driver and her husband, Byron Spice, 78, was her passenger.

The accident took place near milepost 39 and the car landed in about 3 feet of water. Police said it appeared that the Avalon failed to negotiate a curve, crashed through a guardrail and went down the embankment into the creek.

According to police, a witness said the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve and went into the creek. Kathryn Spice was cited for failure to drive within the lane. Local fire personnel helped get the occupants of the sedan to safety.