A Somers woman has died after the Jeep she was driving fell through the ice on Lake Mahopac Monday evening, March 9, and became fully submerged, prompting a rescue response from dive teams from the Mahopac Falls and Yorktown fire departments.
Witness accounts report the female driver entered the lake from Swan Cove and drove in a north-northeast direction across the ice. Temperatures had risen into the high 60s earlier in the day.
Carmel Police Chief Anthony Hoffmann said law enforcement began receiving reports of a vehicle driving on the lake at about 5:45 p.m. Officers responding along East Lake Boulevard attempted to locate the vehicle and were flagged down by passers-by who reported that it had gone through the ice.
Responding Carmel police officers and Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies determined the Jeep had broken through into an area of open water and was fully submerged about 30 yards offshore, north of the St. John’s Prayer Garden on East Lake Boulevard.
The two dive teams responded and located the vehicle.
Rescue divers removed the sole occupant and driver — later identified as a 55-year-old woman from Somers — from the submerged Jeep. She was unresponsive when pulled from the water.
Emergency lifesaving measures were performed by members of the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department and Carmel EMS while en route to Putnam Hospital Center. The woman regained a pulse but later died at the hospital.
Police closed East Lake Boulevard from McMahon Place to North Lake Boulevard Monday evening while emergency crews conducted rescue operations and investigators worked at the scene.
Authorities said the woman’s identity is being withheld pending family notification. The incident remains under investigation by Carmel Police detectives. They did not disclose the reason why the woman drove out onto the ice.
In a separate incident, just before the vehicle fell through the ice on the lake, Carmel police responded to a call for a child who had been struck by a car.
Police said that at about 5:32 p.m. on Monday, March 9, Putnam County 911 alerted officers to a bicyclist struck by a vehicle on South Lake Boulevard (Route 6N) near Chamber Park.
Carmel Police K-9 Officer Vincent DeSantola arrived within about 30 seconds and found an 11-year-old Mahopac boy in the roadway. The child was conscious but bleeding from injuries to his face and head.
Officers were assisted at the scene by an off-duty EMT, an off-duty nurse and Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies. Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department and EMS, along with Carmel EMS, responded to treat the boy.
Out of precaution, a medical helicopter was placed on standby, but the child was transported by ambulance to Westchester Medical Center. Carmel police, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Yorktown police and Westchester County police assisted with an escort along local roads and the Taconic State Parkway to the hospital.
Police said the boy was listed in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to investigators, the driver involved in the crash — a 50-year-old Kent resident — was not at fault and will not face charges at this time. Carmel police detectives are continuing the investigation.
One witness to the incident said the impact propelled the boy 30 feet through the air, then skidding across the payment and coming to rest against his car.
Some roads in the area were temporarily closed Monday evening to facilitate emergency response and the transport of the injured child, according to Carmel Police Chief Anthony Hoffmann.
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