ALEXANDRIA — A Hebron man passing the area of West Shore Road known as The Ledges experienced what many drivers on that stretch have feared, but in the form of a tree rather than a boulder.
Richard Abenna was on his way home from sailing on Newfound Lake on Sept. 4, about 1:30 p.m., when a large tree tumbled from the cliff over the highway and struck his car, sending it — along with the boat and trailer — into the lake.
Abenna said he was traveling with the windows open and heard what sounded like an earthquake, and the next thing he knew, he was upside-down in the water.
Although the accident happened at the deepest part of the lake, where the water is 182 feet deep, the car got hung up on a rock and, because his windows were open, Abenna was able to escape from the vehicle with only minor cuts and bruises.
A young man in a car that was following Abenna’s 2003 Volvo scrambled down the rocky shore to help him out of the water, but Abenna did not get his name.
A tow truck responded to pull his Volvo from the water.
Alexandria police later posted on Facebook, “The vehicle has been removed, we have given the driver directions to the public boat launch for his next trip and the road is open.”
