Driver plunges to death in lake after fleeing scene of dispute
Police haven't named man who shot his wife and himself.
Driver plunges to death in Lake Overholser after fleeing scene of dispute

From staff reports

Published: August 15, 2008

A man died Thursday when he shot himself inside his speeding sports coupe just before it plunged into Lake Overholser, Oklahoma City police Capt. David Ellis said. Police this morning said the man was Rodrigo Salazar, 41. "It appears he committed suicide," Oklahoma City police Master Sgt. Gary Knight said.

Salazar shot his ex-wife in the leg during a domestic dispute in Yukon shortly before the incident and was fleeing the scene when he shot himself, Ellis said. The shooting occurred at Las Fajitas Restaurant, 455 E Main St., in Yukon. Police in Yukon said Salazar was the owner of the restaurant.

Yukon police also confirmed that Salazar's ex-wife is Magali Salazar, 37, of Yukon. Magali Salazar was released this morning from OU Medical Center, hospital officials said.

Court records show the Salazars were divorced in December. In July 2007, Magali Salazar filed for a protective order against her husband. The next month, she asked that the order be dismissed if Rodrigo Salazar agreed to stop drinking alcohol and attend counseling. Police had been called to several domestic disturbances at the Salazar house, but Magali Salazar repeatedly refused to press charges, Yukon police spokeswoman Klare Ly said.

'I heard him hit the guardrail'

About 6:20 p.m. Thursday, city resident Jamie Morrow, 39, was with her infant son watching her 9-year-old daughter at soccer practice nearby when she said she saw a silver sports coupe "flying” down County Line Road just west of the lake's dam. She called out to warn her daughter and her teammates as he swerved off the road toward the lake, crashing into a guardrail and going into the water.

"I heard him hit the guardrail, but by the time I got to the lake he was half submerged,” Morrow said.

Morrow said the man was driving at least 80 mph when he hit the guardrail. She said onlookers tried to pull him out of the car but couldn't, and the victim had been in the water for about 25 minutes by the time rescue workers got him to shore.

The car was completely submerged about 20 yards offshore. An oily film, presumably from fluids leaking out of the car, formed where the coupe was submerged.