Good Samaritan Braves Icy Water To Rescue Driver After Car Skids Into Mount Hope Pond

MOUNT HOPE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A man in Orange County was counting his blessings on Wednesday night, after a good Samaritan rescued him from an icy pond in Mount Hope.

As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, a submerged sport-utility vehicle could have become a watery grave for Claudio Gonzalez, but he is alive thanks to a perfect stranger.

"He's like my saving angel. Yeah, he saved my life," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez's SUV skidded on black ice and wound up in the water.

"When you see somebody go in the water, what are you going to do? You've got to try everything you can," John Kientopp said.

Kientopp was driving behind Gonzalez on a stretch of Mount Hope Road around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Gonzalez said he lost control of his car on the icy roadway and the car went down an embankment. Tire tracks reveal the path the car took into the icy pond.

The car quickly began to fill up with water while Gonzalez frantically tried to get out.

"I thought I was going to be dying there," he said.

Kientopp said he pulled over and made a quick decision.

"I jump in and the water is up to my neck," he said, "So I'm punching the window and I don't know why, I just couldn't break it, and now I'm starting to panic, all I can see is the guy's palms next to the glass."

He was finally able to grab hold of a small opening in the window.

"I got my fingertips in it like that there and I heaved up and the glass blew apart," he said.

Kientopp cut Gonzalez out of his seatbelt and pulled him out of the car.

"I can't pay for what he did for me. I can't pay. I owe my life," he said.

Kientopp said it was the scariest, but most rewarding moment of his life.