54.0°,
Fog Van sinks in Bay Park waters
Police, marine rescue respond to call; no one reported injured
Nassau County Search and Recovery police, along with a county ambulance, helicopter and the Marine water rescue squad — as well as the Coast Guard — answered a call this morning of a car that went into the water via the boat ramp at Bay Park.
"We don't know how long it's been in there," said one police officer before the vehicle was lifted out. "Probably a while — we don't see any bubbles."
Police were on the scene for hours, with emergency vehicles on standby in case there was someone trapped in the vehicle. It was eventually lifted out of the water by the Nassau County Emergency Service Unit tow truck. Coast Guard personnel were suited up and on standby throughout the incident. A Nassau County helicopter was parked in the center of the large parking lot in case someone needed to be airlifted.
As it turned out, the unoccupied vehicle was a white van owned by West Side Floral of Manhattan.
"We reported the van stolen about two weeks ago," said company owner, Anthony, in a phone interview with the Herald."It was parked on 165th Street, and at first we thought it was towed. So now we know what happened."
Police do not know at this time if the van was deliberately submerged into the bay.
Comments about this story? Mmalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
