A driver was assisted from his car after mistaking the accelerator for the brake and driving across Deerfield Road before traveling into a pond in Riverwoods, police said.
The Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District and Riverwoods Police Department responded around 2:05 p.m. Friday to the area of Milwaukee Avenue and Deerfield Road for a car into the water.
Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Tyler Reynolds said emergency crews arrived to find a vehicle in a retention pond with a person still inside the vehicle.
Firefighter-paramedics were able to assist the occupant of the vehicle from the car onto the shoreline.
A water rescue response was initially dispatched, prompting numerous fire departments from across the area to respond.
Reynolds said the response was downgraded to only the Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District.
The driver was assessed for injuries at the scene and refused transport to the hospital, Reynolds said.
Riverwoods Police Chief Bruce Dayno said the driver of the white SUV was southbound exiting the Colonial Court shopping center along Deerfield Road east of Milwaukee Avenue.
The driver, a 47-year-old Deerfield man, accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake and drove across Deerfield Road into the small pond, Dayno said.
The vehicle came to rest in the pond located on the north side of the Thorntons gas station, which is on the southeast corner of the intersection.
The water was up to the tires of the SUV and an Ernie’s tow truck pulled the car out and towed it from the scene.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.