New York

Gymgoer Dives Into New Jersey River, Rescues Woman from Submerged Car: Police

The car was pulled from the water by scuba teams and a towing company

A woman accidentally drove her vehicle into the Passaic River in New Jersey Tuesday morning, and police say she would have drowned if a man leaving a gym across the river didn't jump into action.

The 50-year-old woman from Cranford jumped a small curb on Dock Street in Nutley shortly after 8:30 a.m. and plunged into about 10 feet of water just north of the DeJessa Bridge. 

Jason Moss was leaving the gym when someone ran past him, yelling for someone to call 911, he said. He quickly changed his clothes, dove into the murky water and brought the woman out of the submerged car, then carried her to shore. 

"I think the scariest moment, I turned around at one point to see if there were any rescuers coming because I couldn't get the door open," the 30-year-old Moss told NBC 4 New York. 

Emergency responders treated the woman and her rescuer on the scene, and transported the woman to a local hospital. She's expected to be OK. 

The man, who's from Secaucus, refused a transport to the hospital, and went to an urgent care facility himself to get a tetanus shot, police said.

The car was pulled from the water by scuba teams and a towing company. Police are investigating what caused the woman to jump the curb. 

Moss remains humble and said he wouldn't think twice about doing it again.

"It was more about doing the right thing," he said. 

Contact Us