Police officer, firefighter rescue driver trapped in car that plunged off Patchogue dock
A crane removes a car that drove into the water at Mascot Dock in Patchogue Thursday morning. Credit: Tom Lambui
A Suffolk police officer and a Patchogue firefighter teamed up to rescue a man who was trapped, with the water rising, after he drove off a dock into Patchogue Bay early Thursday.
Nestor Riosarvealo, 33, was driving a 2017 Nissan sedan on South Ocean Avenue at Mascot Dock in Patchogue when the car entered the water at 5 a.m., Suffolk police said.
"All I saw was an individual who needed help," said Fifth Precinct Officer Ed Pitre at a Thursday afternoon news conference, describing how he pulled up to the dock and plunged into the water in full uniform after receiving a 911 call. He swam to the car and tried unsuccessfully to break the car window.
"He wanted to get a way out of there and I was trying to provide it to him," said Pitre, wearing a bandage on his hand from a laceration he sustained during the rescue. "I knew I had precious seconds."
Just then, Patchogue firefighter Peter Feehan pulled up with his truck containing a special tool for such situations. "He was in shock; he was very upset, very agitated and scared because he couldn't open the windows and we couldn't get in and the water was rising," said Feehan.
Feehan and Pitre, using a Halligan tool, finally broke through the back driver's side window. The two then pulled the panicking man through and out of the car.
Riosarvealo, of Patchogue, Pitre and Feehan were taken to Long Island Community Hospital, treated for minor injuries, and released.
Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison, at the news conference, called both men heroes, saying: "They went into action and saved somebody's life and I want to commend them. Really, really impressive work."
Harrison said police were still investigating why the car ended up in the water.
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