A Maryland family is thanking God that no one was injured after their vehicle went careening down a hill, crashed through a fence, and landed in a drainage pond.
An officer with the Anne Arundel County Police Department was patrolling Severn-Danza Park on the night of April 1 when he heard the accident.
The Police Department released video of the incident on its Facebook page.
According to police, two adults and two young children were trapped inside the vehicle which was filling up with water fast.
Video from a body camera shows officers smashing the window with a hammer and yelling “cover your eyes” in an attempt to prevent any injuries.
“The vehicle was taking on water with occupants trapped inside,” police said. “The supervisor and an officer, without hesitation, leaped into action to conduct a rescue of the four occupants, including a 9-month-old and 3-year-old child. Officers had to break the passenger windows of the vehicle to gain access inside. Officers carried the children to safety and returned to rescue the adults. Aside from being cold and wet, everyone involved was unharmed.”
Erica Contreras, the mother of the two children, told WJLA News that she is grateful for God’s protection during those frightening moments.
“Thanks to God and to (the police officers) and the firefighters we are okay,” Contreras said. “Nothing happened to my girls or us. But the truth is I did not think I was going to live to tell this story.”
She added, “It was a good thing they arrived incredibly fast to rescue us. Because the truth is I was very afraid.”
Lt. Dion Tilghman pointed out that it was “definitely a good feeling” to reunite the children with their parents.
“I’m glad we were there. We were able to render help as quickly as we were,” said Tilghman. “Being a father, I can only imagine how scary it was for the parents to realize how much danger the children were in, especially at such a young age.”
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