Leray, N.Y. — The woman struggled to escape as her SUV quickly filled with water after crashing into a Jefferson County drainage pond.
A firefighter jumped into the water, rushed to the vehicle, broke the back window and climbed through, making his way to the driver. She was stuck and the water was up to her shoulders.
Suddenly, the SUV shifted and began sinking with the firefighter and driver still inside.
“Chief, get out! Get out!” a man shouted from the shore. “Chief, get out!”
A state trooper who had jumped in the water climbed on top of the SUV that had now completely filled with water.
All he could see of the driver was her hair floating in the water against the glass of the sunroof.
Standing on top of the SUV, the trooper smashed through the sunroof glass with a steel pole. He and the firefighter, who had escaped the SUV through the back window, pulled the woman from the SUV through the sunroof.
The 61-year-old woman, who held her breath under water for 20 seconds, survived, state police said Friday when they released details of the dramatic rescue along with video from an officer’s body camera.
It all started Saturday night when troopers and the Evans Mills Fire Department were called to the single-vehicle accident near the intersection of state Route 11 and state Route 26 in the town of Leray, troopers said.
The woman had driven her 2010 Ford Explorer off the road, through a six-foot chain-linked fence surrounding the pond and into the water, troopers said.
Evans Mills Assistant Fire Chief John Russel made his way to the SUV, smashing out the back window of the SUV and climbing inside.
Trooper Christopher J. Hardy, based out of the Watertown, arrived to find the SUV with the front end almost entirely submerged in the water and the back of the SUV sticking out of the water.
Hardy ripped off his gun and vest, jumped in the water and made his way to the driver side window of the SUV where he could see the woman was trapped.
Suddenly the SUV slid almost completely under the water.
Russel climbed out the back of the SUV and got on the top of the vehicle where Hardy was smashing the sunroof with the steel pipe.
Russel and Hardy reached in and grabbed the woman, pulling her out.
“Nobody else in there, right?” one of the rescuers shouted.
“No, its just me,” she answered
The woman, Joanne M. Tanner, of Evans Mills, was taken to Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, where she was treated for hypothermia and minor lacerations.
She was later charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor; first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, a felony; and speeding. She was ticketed and is scheduled to appear in Watertown CAP Court on May 27.
Staff writer James McClendon covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach him at 914-204-2815 or jmcclendon@syracuse.com.