SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Over the weekend, a car accident left a mother and her two children trapped inside the vehicle while it was on its side in a Shelby Township pond.
Thankfully, the famly made it out of the water safely, thanks to the help of bystanders who jumped into action.
We caught up with two of the men who pulled the family to safety.
Watch Tiarra Braddock's report in the video player below
When we went to the scene for this story on Sunday night, you could still see the tire marks from where the car was dragged out.
“Watched this car make a turn from Hayes to Hall Road and fishtailed it like crazy, and sent it in the retention pond out back," said bystander Paul Sutton.
Sutton and his family were stopped at a red light on Hall Road in Shelby Township when he saw the car go into the water. He immediately pulled over and ran over to help.
“As I got out I saw a car door going up and there was a little girl, maybe around 15ish or so and she couldn’t get the door open," Sutton said. "I went into the water and got into the car and helped her get the door open and she crawled out."
After Sutton got the girl out, he says she told him her baby sister, who was in a car seat, was also inside.
“More water was coming in," Sutton said. "Luckily the airbags pushed her seat up and kept her out of the water.”
Once Sutton got the baby out of the car, he handed her to Michael Tortomose, who also stopped to help.
“I assisted the mother out, and Paul over here passed me the baby, and it happened really quickl,y and everyone got out," Tortomose told us.
Tortomose said he stumbled upon the accident after his GPS took him in the wrong direction.
“We seen the car, but we also heard a fire engine so we figured the fire engine was for this accident. (We) quickly realized that the fire engine was not for this accident, so right away I knew we had to do something," Tortomose said.
Sutton is a reserve deputy with the Macomb County Sheriff's Office ATV Unit. He says he believes his training helped him in the situation.
“Just being a first responder, helping people in need, I went to school for law enforcement," Sutton said. "(It's) just what I do, help people.”
Sutton and Tortomose say they will keep in touch and hopefully begin a friendship after all of this.
