Glen Ellyn cop saves woman, 61, from submerged vehicle at COD

GLEN ELLYN (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A Glen Ellyn police officer rescued a 61-year-old woman from a submerged car that went into a pond on Friday on a community college campus in west suburban Glen Ellyn.

About 8 p.m., officers were sent to investigate a report of a car sinking into a pond on the campus of College of DuPage at 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn police said.

Officer Kevin Riggle was the first to arrive at the scene, police said. A person driving by reported seeing a vehicle that had just gone underwater in a pond on the east side of the campus.

Riggle got in the water and swam to the vehicle, which was about 30 yards from the shore, police said. He found an unconscious 61-year-old woman inside the vehicle, pulled her out and put her on top of the vehicle as it floated just below the surface of the water. The woman then regained consciousness.

Firefighters with the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department helped the pair return to shore, police said. The woman was taken to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, where her condition was unknown.

In a statement, Police Chief Philip Norton praised Officer Riggle’s “heroic actions which undoubtably save the woman’s life.”