Good Samaritan Rescues Largo Woman Who Crashed Into Pond

A good Samaritan rescued a Largo woman after her car crashed and sank into a retention pond Thursday in Dunedin, deputies said.

The driver, 20-year-old Bailey Hartman, was driving south on Belcher Road around 4:45 p.m. Thursday when she was apparently cut off by an unidentified vehicle that made a U-turn in front of her, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office reports.

Hartman swerved to avoid a collision but lost control of her 1992 Honda Accord, crashing into a pond at the corner of Belcher and Solon Avenue.

Palm Harbor resident Joseph Daniel Isabelle, 46, who was driving by and witnessed the crash, immediately pulled over, took off his shirt, set aside his cell phone and jumped into the water, deputies said.

Isabelle helped Hartman escape through her window — which was only open because her air conditioning wasn't working — and pulled her to an embankment about 20 to 25 feet away.

Isabelle stayed with Hartman until emergency personnel arrived. Neither of them was injured, authorities said.

Hartman's car became completely submerged, and the sheriff's office's dive team had to be called in to recover it.

The only description available of the unidentified vehicle that cut Hartman off is that it may be a black, two-door car, possibly a Chevy, officials said.

The investigation continues.