Police and firefighters rescued two people on Long Island from a car that had plunged into a waterway after carving a path of destruction between two houses on Long Island, authorities said Sunday.
A 24-year-old man was driving a 2002 Audi sedan in Island Park on Warwick Road at around 10 p.m. Saturday when it toppled a utility pole, ripped through a fence between two homes and splashed into the Broad Channel, according to Nassau County police.
The driver managed to make his way out of the car and was able to climb to the top of the vehicle, but his 28-year-old passenger was trapped inside, according to police.
Resident Henry Korn heard the crash and came outside to investigate. He saw the driver standing on the roof of the car, seeming perfectly calm.
"He didn't even ask for help. He said, 'There was a car accident.' I said, 'There was a car accident?' I said, 'Are you guys in a boat?' He said, 'No, I'm the driver of the car.'"
Officers placed a 20-foot ladder between a dock and the trunk of the sinking vehicle, police said. The officers reached the driver and pulled him onto the dock, but the passenger was still in the sinking car.
An Island Park fireman who stood on top of the submerged vehicle held the passenger’s head above water while another fireman in a wet suit helped him get out of the vehicle, police said.
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The passenger was taken to a local hospital with multiple fractures to the leg and a shoulder injury, police said. The driver was also taken to a hospital with abrasions for evaluation.
The identities of the driver an his passenger weren't disclosed by police.
No charges have been filed.
Korn surveyed the damage to his house on Sunday.
"Where that car is a good 35 feet in the water, so he went about 110 feet after he hit that telephone pole, busted all this stuff and went into the water. He was airborne," Korn said.
