A 64-year-old driver of an SUV mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake when pulling out of a car wash in Hackensack, New Jersey, and plunged into a river.
A bystander, Oriolis Ran, 41, rushed into the Hackensack River and helped to pull the driver, Evelyn Asperilla, and her passenger, Carla Asperilla, 27, out of the 2002 Mercedes SUV, Hackensack police said. Hackensack is about 15 miles from Midtown Manhattan.
The incident at the Spotless Car Wash parking lot before noon Tuesday was captured on surveillance video.
The video shows two car wash workers in the parking lot as the car careens toward them, almost hits a fence with an arrow pointing to an exit and then speeds up, but maneuvers between them as they dodge out of the way.
When the car drops into the water, the two workers and two others run over.
After Ran helped the women out of the vehicle, Hackensack Fire Department personnel then assisted the women in getting out of the river, authorities said.
There were no significant injuries, but Evelyn Asperilla was taken to the hospital as a precaution, police said.
The Hackensack Police Department is investigating the incident. Police said there were no barricades that would block a car from driving into the water.
A towing company removed the vehicle from the river.
