Police Rescue Unresponsive Driver From Sinking Vehicle After Crash Into Florida Pond

A pair of police officers in Florida leapt into a pond to rescue an unresponsive motorist whose vehicle submerged after a crash.

The Clearwater Police Department said on Facebook, Officer Jonathan Hurt and Officer Hunter Smaldone responded at around 6:34 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, to a report of a crash in which one vehicle went into a pond near the intersection of McMullen Booth Road and Enterprise Road.

When Hurt and Smaldone arrived on the scene, they saw the vehicle was “quickly” becoming submerged and immediately swam out to the vehicle. They found the driver-side door locked, and tried to communicate with the driver to unlock it, but she was unresponsive.

Hurt then broke the driver-side window to unlock and open the door. The officers pulled the woman out of the vehicle and brought her safely to shore.

Due to the “murky” water, the officers could not tell if there were any passengers in the vehicle, and a Clearwater Fire and Rescue diver who had since arrived on scene confirmed there were no other occupants.

Photos shared by the police department show the vehicle almost fully submerged in the pond, which is surrounded by a parking lot.

The driver, a 45-year-old woman, was transported to Mease Countryside Hospital for treatment.

Police said the investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.