Commack Man Saves Elderly Driver Who Crashed Into His Backyard Pool

An elderly man who crashed his car through a fence and into a backyard pool at a Commack home Monday afternoon was pulled to safety by the homeowner, officials said.

The Commack Fire Department, Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Suffolk Police responded to the accident, which occurred on Smiths Lane at about 4:50 p.m.

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The driver, identified by police as 79-year-old Joseph DiDonato, had been in the adjacent parking lot of Mayfair Foot Care, located at 19 Harned Road, when ”he apparently pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake” of his 2010 Acura SUV, causing the vehicle to plow through a fence and land in the deep end of an in-ground pool, police said.

The homeowner, 32-year-old John Bacchi, was in his backyard at the time of the crash, police said.

Bacchi jumped into the pool, broke the driver’s side window and pulled DiDonato out of the window to safety, police said.

“The window was closed; the door wouldn’t open,” Bacchi told Newsday of the rescue. “I had my neighbor grab something and I just smashed the window open.”

DiDonato was transported via Commack Ambulance to Huntington Hospital for evaluation. Bacchi and his wife, who was also in the backyard at the time of the crash, were not injured.

The Commack Fire Department responded to the scene with an engine and heavy rescue truck, under the direction of assistant chiefs Andy Babajko and Rich Myers.

Photo: Courtesy Commack Fire Department

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Correction: This article originally stated the wrong parking lot where the SUV had been before the crash. We apologize for the error.