Four teens escape as vehicles sink in West Windsor pond, West Windsor Township, NJ 11/19/08

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Four teens escape as vehicles sink in West Windsor pond

by Michael Ratcliffe/The Times http://www.nj.com

Wednesday November 19, 2008, 10:36 PM

WEST WINDSOR -- Four teenage boys "miraculously" escaped serious injury Wednesday when the two vehicles in which they were traveling veered off Conover Road -- missing a utility pole by about a foot -- and sank out of sight in the frigid water of a pond on the Mercer Oaks East golf course, police and emergency officials said.

The four boys -- all 17-year-old township residents whose names were not released -- were able to get out of the vehicles before they became submerged and were able to swim to shore. Two were treated at the scene for "minor injuries," and all four were sent home with their parents, police said.

Trenton Fire Department SCUBA divers were called out to search the large, 10-foot-deep pond for the vehicles and attach cables to them so they could be pulled from the water by tow trucks.

While the crash remains under investigation by Officers Frank Latorre and Lee Evans, township police Lt. Carl Walsh said "speed and driver inexperience" were certainly factors in the crash.

He said police have found no evidence to suggest the boys' two vehicles were racing, and added that charges against the drivers are pending the outcome of the investigation.

Walsh said the accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of Conover and South Post roads shortly after the boys were dismissed from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South.

Walsh said the four were traveling west on Conover Road in an Oldsmobile sedan and a Volkswagen station wagon -- with the second auto following close behind the first -- when the first vehicle "failed to negotiate a dog-leg turn" onto South Post Road.

That first vehicle went off the road, narrowly missed a utility pole, crashed through a small fence and some shrubbery, and finally rocketed into the pond that runs along Mercer Oaks East's 13th green and fairway. The second vehicle was unable to stop in time and followed the first into the water.

Township firefighters and ambulance crews arrived to find the four teenagers already out of the water -- wet and cold, but almost entirely unscathed. One rescue worker at the scene said it was an "all-around miracle" that the vehicles missed hitting the utility pole, that the teens were not hurt when the autos hit the water, and that they did not drown.

After darkness fell, the Trenton Fire Department's marine task force was called out to locate the vehicles. Divers Gary Szabo, Mike Brown and Kevin Rice entered the frigid water, while other firefighters in a boat helped search for the autos.

The first vehicle was pulled from the water about 6:30 p.m., while the second was removed about an hour later.

Channel 6 - WPVI

November 19, 2008

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. -- Around 4:00 p.m., two vehicles were driven into in the water off South Post Road and Conover Road in West Windsor Township, New Jersey.

Four teenagers suffered minor injuries when their cars went into the water.

Police say one car was following the other, when the driver of the first car lost control and went into the water; the second vehicle followed him in.

The body of water the vehicles were in is said to be a pond near the property of the Mercer Oaks Golf Course.

Four young men swim to safety as cars sink in golf course pond

By MICHAEL RATCLIFFE

STAFF WRITER http://www.nj.com

WEST WINDSOR - Four teenage boys "miraculously" escaped serious injury yesterday when the two vehicles in which they were traveling veered off Conover Road - missing a utility pole by about a foot - and sank out of sight in the frigid water of a pond on the Mercer Oaks East golf course, police and emergency officials said.

The four boys - all 17-year-old township residents whose names were not released - were able to get out of the vehicles before they became submerged and were able to swim to shore. Two were treated at the scene for "minor injuries," and all four were sent home with their parents, police said.

Trenton Fire Department SCUBA divers were called out to search the large, 10-foot-deep pond for the vehicles and attach cables to them so they could be pulled from the water by tow trucks.

While the crash remains under investigation by Officers Frank Latorre and Lee Evans, township police Lt. Carl Walsh said "speed and driver inexperience" were certainly factors in the crash.

He said police have found no evidence to suggest the boys' two vehicles were racing, and added that charges against the drivers are pending the outcome of the investigation.

Walsh said the accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of Conover and South Post roads shortly after the boys were dismissed from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South.

Walsh said the four were traveling west on Conover Road in an Oldsmobile sedan and a Volkswagen station wagon - with the second auto following close behind the first - when the first vehicle "failed to negotiate a dog-leg turn" onto South Post Road.

Township firefighters and ambulance crews arrived to find the four teenagers already out of the water - wet and cold, but almost entirely unscathed. One rescue worker at the scene said it was an "all-around miracle" that the vehicles missed hitting the utility pole, that the teens were not hurt when the autos hit the water, and that they did not drown.

The first vehicle was pulled from the water about 6:30 p.m., while the second was removed about an hour later.

PHOTO CAPTION: 1. Mike Brown and Gary Szabo, members of the Trenton Fire Department's marine task force, work to retrieve two vehicles that became submerged in a golf course pond after they veered off the road at the intersection of Conover and South Post roads in West Windsor yesterday. CREDIT: 1. MICHAEL RATCLIFFE/THE TIMES

Teens drive off course and into water hazard

By SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN

Staff Writer The Trentonian, http://www.trentonian.com

WEST WINDSOR — Two teen drivers double bogeyed their vehicles straight into a golf course pond yesterday afternoon, causing no serious injuries but totaling the submerged autos, cops said. Police don’t suspect drugs or alcohol played a role in the incident.

“Two cars followed each other, one behind the other, on Conover Road, and one car failed to make the turn — it went straight,” said Lt. Carl Walsh of the township police department. “The other car following it went straight also, and both of them drove into a pond, which is about 30 feet away from the road.”

The motorists and their juvenile passengers escaped from their sunken vehicles before cops arrived to the 3:30 p.m. back-to-back plunge, police said, adding that the four victims are all 17-year-old high school students from West Windsor.

“Both vehicles became fully submerged. There were two juveniles in each car,” Walsh said. One of the vehicles was a 2002 Oldsmobile and the other a 2004 Volkswagen Passat, cops said.

Police summoned a dive team and other emergency units to plunk the two vehicles out of the drink, cops said. The pond, estimated by people at the scene to be some 8 to 10 feet deep, is part of the Mercer Oaks Golf Course near the “T” intersection of Conover and South Post roads.

Two of victims were uninjured and the other two had “minor injuries, nothing serious,” Lt. Walsh said. “They were cold. No one suffered hypothermia.” The hurt victims were treated by medics at the scene and didn’t need to be transported to local hospitals, cops said.

It’s unclear why the drivers failed to make the “dog-leg” turn onto South Post Road, but Walsh said there’s “no suspicion” that the drivers were drugged or boozed up.

The Associated Press

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

4 teens survive after cars sink in pond

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - Police believe speed and driver inexperience were factors that left two cars carrying four teenagers in a pond in West Windsor.

The 17-year-old boys swam to safety before the vehicles sank in the frigid water at the Mercer Oaks East golf course Wednesday.

Their names were not released.

The accident happened after the boys were dismissed from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South.

Police believe an Oldsmobile sedan failed to negotiate a turn on Conover Road, crashed through a fence and rocketed into the pond. Police say a Volkswagen station wagon that was close behind followed the Olds into the pond along the 13th green.

Fire Department divers helped remove the vehicles from the water.

Information from: The Times, http://www.nj.com/times

Princeton Packet

Friday, November 21, 2008

POLICE BLOTTER, Nov. 21

West Windsor

Four West Windsor teenage boys escaped unharmed after two cars they were traveling in veered off Conover Road into a pond at the Mercer Oaks Golf Course on Thursday afternoon.

The first vehicle failed to negotiate a dog-leg turn onto North Post Road, ending up in the pond about 40 feet from the roadway. The second vehicle followed.

Two of the 17-year-old boys were treated for minor injuries at the scene by West Windsor EMS. No one was transported to the hospital or suffered hypothermia.

A 2002 Oldsmobile and a 2004 Volkswagen Passat were completely submerged. A dive team from Trenton Rescue 1 hooked up both vehicles to be towed from the water.