THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 20, 1996 TAG: 9607200299
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Briefs
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 23 lines
A 2-year-old in a van rolling backward into the Nansemond River was rescued by his father just after noon Friday.
Charles Richardson, 46, of Burnett's Way, jumped into the water at Constant's Wharf and got his son, Victor, out of the vehicle that had been parked next to the public boat ramp near downtown.
Richardson had gotten out to investigate a noise underneath the van, police spokesman Mike Simpkins said. As Richardson kneeled to look under the back of the vehicle, he noticed it rolling off the edge of a bulkhead, Simpkins said.
The 1996 Dodge Caravan kept rolling backward until it was submerged in about 15 feet of water, said Simpkins.
Richardson and his son were uninjured.
Suffolk police divers, Capt.Richard H. Hurd and Officer Dean M. Smith, hooked a wrecker cable to the van to retrieve it from the water.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC RESCUE by CNB