NJ Man Saves Woman After Deadly Car Plunge Into River: PHOTOS

Essex County, NJ – A woman drives her car off a curb and into a swirling, 10-foot deep river. Do you have the courage to jump into the water and save her?

That kind of fearless response is why emergency responders in Essex County are calling Jason Moss a hero.

According to the Nutley Police Department, Moss, 30, of Secaucus, had just finished his workout and had left the gym on Tuesday morning when he saw someone run past yelling for people to call 9-1-1.

That was when Moss saw that a 2008 Mercury Wagon had plunged into the Passaic River, authorities said.

There wasn’t time to think about anything other than the woman trapped inside the car, Moss later told police. He raced to the site of the crash, quickly shed some clothes and dove into the murky, tide-heavy waters.

Still acting on instinct, Moss made his way to the submerged and sinking vehicle. Although the water was over the car’s roof by the time he arrived, Moss was able to remove the woman from the vehicle and carry her safely to shore.

Nutley Police Chief Thomas Strumolo said that if not for Moss’ “quick actions,” the driver – a 50-year-old Cranford woman – would have drowned.

Although authorities are still investigating how and why the car ended up in the water, police said on Tuesday that it appears the vehicle jumped a small curb on Dock Street, landing in about 10 feet of water just north of the DeJessa Bridge.

Nutley police, fire and ambulance crews worked with Lyndhurst and Belleville emergency responders to render aid to Moss and the woman after arriving on the scene, authorities said.

Emergency responders transported the woman to a local hospital where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries, authorities stated.

Moss declined a ride to the hospital, although he later visited an urgent care facility and received a tetanus shot, according to police.

Scuba teams later secured the vehicle and Nicolette Towing pulled it from the river, police said.

Nutley Police Director Alphonse Petracco called Moss a hero and said that his quick actions and zero hesitation to save a complete stranger “exemplified what a hero is.”

Nutley Detective Anthony Montanari spoke to Moss following the incident and said that he was “very humble about what happened.”

“I was just paying it forward,” Moss told him.

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Photos: Nutley Police Department