Crime & Safety
Police, Motorists Rescue Woman After Car Plunges into Hutchinson River
A woman was taken to the hospital after her SUV veered off the Hutch, into the river and drifted down stream.
Three police officers and one civilian motorist rescued a woman who lost control of her car and crashed into the Hutchinson River this afternoon.
The accident happened in the northbound lanes near the Mamaroneck Avenue exit of the Hutchinson River Parkway around 12:45 p.m. The light blue Mercedes Benz SUV careened off a low overpass and into the river. Police believe the driver suffered some sort of medical condition that caused her to swerve off the road.
Westchester County Police Officer Dave Sanchez, a Village of Mamaroneck police sergeant and two motorists, one of whom was an off-duty New York City police officer, responded immediately and were able to pull the woman, about 40 years old, to safety.
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At one point they had to wade waist deep into the freezing water, said Kieran O'Leary, Westchester County Police spokesman.
"The car went airborne a bit, down an embankment and into the river and was probably carried by the current about 500 feet and then came to rest very near the shoreline," O'Leary said.
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The woman suffered minor injuries from the impact and was taken to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla to assess any underlying condition.
Traffic traveling north on the Hutch slowed to a standstill as emergency crews tried to gain access to the vehicle.
At least six emergency road crew members were buzz-sawing trees to try and gain access for three Safeway tow trucks to help pull the vehicle out of the water.
The vehicle appeared structurally sound, but the passenger-side mirror was crushed and the passenger side of the vehicle had damage that appeared to have been sustained from an impact with a guardrail.
