A 71-year-old man accidentally drove his car into the Third River this morning in Nutley, but wasn’t seriously injured, the Nutley Police Department said today in a news release.
Shortly after 10 a.m., police and fire officials responded to the area of Franklin Ave. and Harrison St. to find a white Honda CRV overturned in the river. Police say several residents, police officers and firefighters jumped into the river to rescue the driver, a Hamburg resident, who was waist deep in water — but not trapped in the vehicle.
The driver told police his foot may have slipped off the brake, causing his CRV to jump a cement-parking barrier and to crash through a 5-foot fence.
He then plummeted 10 feet from the parking lot into the river, the NPD said.
The driver, whose name was not released, was checked at the scene by EMS and was released into the custody of his son.
“This man is lucky he wasn’t submerged or injured more than he was,” Mayor and Police Director Alphonse Petracco said. “The plunge upside down was enough to seriously hurt an occupant, let alone becoming trapped under water. The emergency responders, civilians and local business owners didn’t think twice about jumping into the water to save this man. I commend all of them for their bravery.”
Police Chief Thomas Strumolo commended the rescue and fire department, Sgt. Graziano, Officers Stabinski, Osetto, Canova, Argenteiri, Sandomenico, Hearns, Villano and O’Halloran for their actions, and said business owner John DeStefano, of Garutto’s, was one of the first to jump into the murky water.
He said although police and fire are trained to respond to incidents like this, it is extremely commendable to see local residents leap into action and help one another in a time of need.
Photos below courtesy of the NPD/Sgt. Anthony Montanari
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.