That's what they were trying to do. Read the report on Facebook. 

The cops were several blocks behind the SUV, not racing along with it at high speed. When they got thru downtown, they found the trashed guardrail which led them to the vehicle, where they found the driver in danger of drowning as he was trapped half in the vehicle. Thankfully it was low tide or they would have all drowned given several people could not get out of the car on their own. They cut the drowning driver free to save his life, and then helped others until Fire Rescue and others arrived. 

Sounds like some excellent police work to me.