Driver who died trying to cross flooded bridge toward Amazon driver identified
A Sutter County man died Friday afternoon after his vehicle was swept off a flooded bridge into a rushing creek, according to California Highway Patrol officials.
An Amazon delivery driver was attempting to deliver a package to the 71-year-old man in Pleasant Grove but did not drive over the bridge in the direction of the recipient’s address, as there was 2 to 3 feet of water flowing over the roadway, the CHP’s Yuba-Sutter office said in a news release.
On Monday, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Arnold Jee; they said Jee “just moved to Sutter County earlier that week.”
The Jee tried to cross the bridge in his Mazda CX-5 to retrieve the parcel, and the vehicle was carried off into the creek, which had more water than usual due to recent rainfall.
The Pleasant Grove Fire Department responded to a 911 call by the Amazon driver and found Jee’s vehicle partially submerged in the creek, the CHP report said. Responders pulled the unresponsive man out through the car’s sunroof and attempted CPR, but he was declared dead approximately an hour and a half later, at 4 p.m.
The incident happened on Fifield Road, which crosses a creek east of Natomas Road and west of Pleasant Grove Road in rural Sutter County. The CHP said there were signs in both directions of the roadway indicating it was flooded and urging motorists not to cross.
According to the National Weather Service, Pleasant Grove — which is about 13 miles northeast of Sacramento International Airport — received about 1.4 inches of rain between Wednesday and Friday during the recent storm.
This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 11:37 AM.
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