Port St. Lucie Police officers, good Samaritan rescue man from sinking vehicle

Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated ·3 min read

PORT ST. LUCIE — Norberto Garcia was headed home from lunch at La Granja with his wife and three children when he said instinct took over.

Two police officers were approaching quickly, and he looked over to see a car in a pond.

“I know that the more hands they have, the quicker they can get somebody out of the water because you don't have a lot of time before that car starts sinking,” Garcia said Monday. “I didn't think it through, I just reacted.”

Garcia and Port St. Lucie Police Officer Joseph Rathnam recalled the Saturday afternoon rescue of an 81-year-old man from a Toyota Prius that wound up in a small lake or pond in the 2800 block of Southwest Oakner Street. The location is west of Florida’s Turnpike near Southwest Port St. Lucie and Southwest Tulip boulevards.

Garcia, Rathnam and Officer Natalie Mastrangiola went in to help.

Rathnam said when he arrived the Toyota was about 20 yards into the water. It was his first call of the day.

A man was inside the Toyota, and he appeared OK.

“But it was very clear that he was not going to be able to get out unassisted,” Rathnam said.

Rathnam said it’s nearly impossible to open the door from the inside of a submerged vehicle because of counterpressure.

“The only way to get out of that is to break a window or roll one down in order to equalize the pressure and then open it up,” Rathnam said. “He didn't look like he was in the condition to do that himself, so I knew I was going to have to go in.”

Norberto Garcia (left), and Port St. Lucie Police Officer Joseph Rathnam (right) on Oct. 23, 2023, at the scene where two days earlier they helped rescue an 81-year-old man from a Toyota Prius that ran into a pond off Southwest Oakner Street in Port St. Lucie.
Norberto Garcia (left), and Port St. Lucie Police Officer Joseph Rathnam (right) on Oct. 23, 2023, at the scene where two days earlier they helped rescue an 81-year-old man from a Toyota Prius that ran into a pond off Southwest Oakner Street in Port St. Lucie.

The water was about chest deep, Rathnam said. The driver was in distress and “a little bit out of it.”

Rathnam didn’t worry about alligators.

“I was much more concerned about getting that man out safely, as were everyone else on scene,” he said.

Garcia said the driver banged on the window.

“I know we have to act fast before the car start sinking,” he said.

Officers broke out a window, and the driver was taken to shore. He wasn’t seriously hurt and was brought to a hospital as a precaution.

As for the vehicle, it was towed out, police said.

Rathnam said he was told the driver apparently tried to pull in a driveway by a neighboring church.

“When he went to put his vehicle in park, he accidentally either failed to put it in park or placed it in gear,” he said.

Rathnam, an officer for about 3.5 years, said it’s the first time he’s had to go in the water on duty.

“I would hope that if that were one of my family members that an officer would respond in the same way,” he said. “It's just part of the job.”

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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Good Samaritan in PSL 'didn't think it through, I just reacted'