Good Samaritans Jump To The Rescue After Car Plunges Into Canal

LINDENHURST, NY — Two Suffolk County police officers, a Lake Success police officer and five good Samaritans rescued a couple from their car after it became submerged in a Lindenhurst canal following a crash.

A 2018 Ford pickup and 2016 Subaru were involved in a crash at Venetian Promenade and Montauk Highway at 12:10 p.m. Following the crash, the driver of the Subaru backed up his car into eastbound Montauk Highway, where it was struck by a 2004 Mercury, police said. The Mercury then crashed through a fence and into a canal.

Five good Samaritans, off-duty officer John Tighe and on-duty officer Debra Gearon jumped into the water and pulled the driver, a 78-year-old man, from the car. Rescuers broke a window to extricate the man's wife, 76, who was unconscious. Off-duty officer Robert Russo then performed CPR on the woman, and her pulse and breathing were restored.

The Massapequa couple, one good Samaritan, the two Suffolk County police officers, and the driver of the Subaru, an 85-year-old Atlantic Beach man, were transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for treatment of injuries that were not deemed life-threatening.

The driver of the Ford was not injured.