Manchester Township police officers pulled the sole occupant of a car from the water inside the gated Renaissance development early Sunday morning, freeing the driver moments before the vehicle sank completely beneath the surface of a retention pond. Emergency crews were dispatched at approximately 4:54 a.m. on September 20 for a report of a vehicle in the water, and by the time additional units arrived, the car was already fully submerged.
The vehicle went into a body of water on the east side of Manchester Township, inside the 55-plus Renaissance community, according to Shore News Network. Renaissance at Manchester is a 55-plus community, according to 55places. Manchester Township police officers reached the scene and removed the driver before the car went completely under.
Fire Officials Take Over a Fully Submerged Scene
By the time a Whiting fire chief designated as Chief 3300 assumed incident command, the vehicle was already completely underwater, per the same Shore News Network account. The Whiting Volunteer Fire Company Water Rescue and Recovery Team responded with a dive unit, a special operations trailer, and a brush unit. That team expanded its water rescue division in 2016 to include surface and ice rescue capability and earned Emergency Response Diving International certification in 2024 to conduct public safety diving, vehicle recoveries, and underwater investigations, according to the Whiting Volunteer Fire Company.
Public safety divers searched the fully submerged vehicle and confirmed there were no additional occupants inside, the report states. Manchester Township police remained on scene to continue the investigation while land-based support from fire companies continued throughout the incident on the east side of the township, per the same account.
Winch and Wheels: How the Car Came Out of the Water
The vehicle was found resting upright on all four wheels at the bottom of the pond, and Whiting Fire divers rigged it for removal before Brush Unit 3339 used its heavy winch to pull the car from the water. The fire company also deployed other equipment during the recovery, the outlet reports. Divers completed department decontamination procedures once the recovery operation wrapped up.
Manchester EMS treated the driver at the scene and also provided rehabilitation monitoring for the dive personnel who conducted the underwater search. Accurate Towing responded to remove the recovered vehicle once it was pulled from the pond. Whiting fire officials specifically recognized Manchester Township police officers for initiating the rescue that got the driver out before the car went under, the station notes.
A Neighborhood With a History of Water Trouble
This is not the first time water has caused chaos inside the Renaissance development. In August 2015, severe flash flooding submerged roads in up to two feet of water around Barcelona Court, Eleanor Road, and Ambassador Drive, stranding multiple vehicles and even disabling a responding ambulance, according to the Manchester Township Police Department.
Manchester Township has faced deep-water emergencies before. In December 2020, an off-road vehicle crash at the Heritage Minerals site sent a vehicle into 25 feet of water, prompting a joint underwater dive search by Manchester Police alongside Whiting, Manchester, and Ridgeway fire companies, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. That case ended this past January when an Ocean County Superior Court judge sentenced the driver to three years in New Jersey State Prison after a strict liability vehicular homicide conviction.
What caused Sunday's vehicle to enter the pond has not been released, and the driver's condition has not been disclosed. Manchester Township police continue to investigate the incident.
