Two Good Samaritans helped save four people including a woman and her three kids from a car that drove into a retention pond during a storm Wednesday.
First responders were called to the parking lot of Tacos El Norte near 906 East Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach at around 9:30 p.m. for a report of a vehicle that had driven into the retention pond and people were trapped inside.
“Due to the large amount of rain, the retention area on the south side of the parking lot, between Rollins Rd and the parking lot, had filled to the point where a driver thought it was a continuation of the parking lot”, according to Round Lake Beach Deputy Chief of Police Michael Scott.
The driver drove south through the parking lot and then directly into the retention pond. The vehicle was quickly submerged to its roof with three children ages 3, 5, and 7-years-old.
“Two good Samaritans who witnessed the incident, Blaine Matthew Smith and Stephen Aversano, swam to the vehicle and rescued the occupants from the vehicle”, Deputy Chief Scott said.
When fire and police arrived they found the four victims who were rescued and already out of the vehicle.
No serious injuries were reported.
