Joliet Woman In Her 80s Drives Into Retention Pond, Rescued By Firefighters

JOLIET, IL —A Joliet woman in her 80s has managed to escape serious or life-threatening injuries despite hitting the gas on her vehicle and driving into a pond on Monday morning, police said.

The incident happened around 11 a.m. near the Social Security Administration Building along Houbolt Road, not far from the stoplight at McDonough Street.

According to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English, "our officers responded with the Joliet Fire Department to the 500 block of Houbolt Road for a report of a vehicle in a retention pond. Officers found a Subaru Forester half submerged in a retention pond."

English said the Joliet Fire Department personnel were able to extricate the 82-year-old female driver from her vehicle, and she was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center with minor injuries.

"It is believed the driver accidentally pressed the accelerator pedal while in a parking lot in the 500 block of Houbolt Road, causing the vehicle to drive over a ditch and into a nearby retention pond," English said.