PORT GAMBLE – A cat was blamed for causing a Mercedes sedan to splash into a pond near Port Gamble Thursday afternoon.

Driver Garrett Stilwell, 21, said he rounded a sharp turn on Gamble Bay Road and saw a cat in the roadway. Stilwell tried to brake and the car veered off the roadway. It skidded across wet grass on the shoulder and ran over a speed limit sign before plunging into a pond on Martha John Creek.

The car sank into chest-deep water. Stilwell escaped without injury.

The accident occurred just before 3 p.m.

North Kitsap Fire and Rescue and Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene. A tow truck pulled the car from the pond at 4 p.m.