Police Smash Windshield Of A Sinking Car To Save Woman From Drowning

Moments before a New Zealand woman's car fully submerged, a quick-thinking police officer destroyed her windshield and saved her life.

The Daily Mail reports earlier today, bystanders spotted a quickly sinking vehicle in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour and called the police.

As officers arrived, they witnessed an anonymous 63-year-old woman pressed against the back seat of her BMW in an attempt to reach the last few bubbles of air left in the car.

Hoping to give the woman a few extra minutes of life, two civilians tried to hold the car and keep it from sinking further into the water.

Thinking quickly, constable Simon Russell whacked the car's windshield with his police baton but to no avail.

The New Zealand Herald reports he dove down to the ocean bed, picked up a large rock, resurfaced and shattered the windshield's glass.

Partner Paul Watts told press, "It was pretty close, probably 30 or 40 seconds after we managed to get the female out of the car, the car was already slipping further into the water…"

"I'd say she'd probably only had maximum probably another minute, minute-and-a-half if she hadn't got out."

The paper adds the uninjured woman, who has not yet been named publicly, is resting comfortably at the nearby North Shore Hospital.

Police are unsure as to how her car ended up in the water and plan to conduct further investigations.