Car plunges into river after wash

TEANECK, N.J., July 23 (UPI) -- Workers at a New Jersey car wash said a woman hit the wrong pedal while exiting the business and plunged into a river.

John Goez, 40, of Teaneck, an employee at the Spotless Auto Laundry in Hackensack, said the elderly woman apparently hit the accelerator pedal when her wash was completed Sunday and her car drove into the Hackensack River, The Record, Hackensack, reported Monday.

Goez and a customer, Jay Orsino of River Edge, jumped into the water and rescued the woman from her car.

"I kept telling her, 'Don't worry, we're going to get you out of here,' " Goez said. "We couldn't open the door because of the water pressure," Goez said. "Thank God, the window was half open. We got her through the window."

The woman was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.

Firefighters said they tethered the car to the shore and helped a tow truck pull it from the water.