Detective to the rescue
Cop pulls woman from quickly sinking vehicle
A heroic Groveland detective who rushed to the scene of a car accident yesterday leapt into a frigid icy pond without a cold-water suit or other protective equipment to rescue an injured driver from her quickly sinking car.
“He went in full uniform,” police Detective Sgt. Heather Riley said of Detective Steven Petrone, who, like the rest of the town’s police force, didn’t have access to cold-water gear while he was rushing to the scene of the crash yesterday afternoon.
Groveland cops and firefighters responded to the crash at Johnsons Pond about 1:30 p.m., police Chief Jeffrey Gillen and fire Chief Robert Lay said.
Riley said it’s still unclear what caused the woman’s vehicle to veer off the road, over some boulders and careen into the ice-covered pond.
Petrone, who was the first emergency responder to arrive on scene, got out of his car and immediately leapt into the water to pull the woman from the driver’s seat of the white sedan, which was rapidly filling with water.
With the help of officer Daniel Richmond, officials said Petrone managed to escort the woman back across the ice to safety.
Medics who arrived after the woman was pulled from the pond evaluated her for what were considered non-life-threatening injuries and rushed to her an area hospital. Petrone and Richmond were also evaluated at the scene, police said, though no first responders were injured during the rescue.
The driver’s name was not released last night. Police said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.