An 88-year-old woman died after police said she drove her car into a canal in Sunrise, despite attempts by neighbors and first responders to save her.
It happened at around 6:22 p.m. Wednesday at 3730 North Pine Island Road, Sunrise police said.
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WATCH HEREAn initial investigation revealed that the woman, who authorities have not identified, drove over the center parking block into the canal accidentally.
A neighbor's doorbell camera captured the moments after the silver Toyota sedan went into the water.
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Ovidio Romero said he had no choice but to jump in.
“You could see everything, only the tires had sunk. I wanted to get in but since I was calling [911] and on the line, there was no one else to help me–until I hung up and got in. I was close when she lowered her window and sank,” Ovidio Romero said. “When she saw I was going in to help her, she lowered her window and it got full of water and went down.”
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Police said attempts made to get to the woman by officers, the fire department and civilians who jumped into the canal were unsuccessful.
It was the Sunrise Dive Team that eventually pulled the woman from the water and took her to West Side Regional Hospital.
She was pronounced deceased once there, according to police.
Neighbors said the victim is an elderly woman who had health problems and difficulty parking. They said she remained underwater for several minutes.
“She lowered the window and was saying, ‘Help me, help me,’” neighbor Sorisbeth Sibada said.
“You’d always see her and she’d sometimes have difficulty getting into the car,” Romero said.
Hours later, the Toyota she drove was pulled out of the canal. It appeared to have sustained heavy damage, including all broken windows.
