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UPDATE: Driver charged after hitting vehicle, causing it to flip into water at Twin Bridges

Posted at 5:52 PM, May 08, 2014
and last updated 2014-05-08 23:31:47-04

Norfolk, Va. - Virginia State Police responded to a two-vehicle accident on I-64 westbound at the Twin Bridges in Norfolk.

Police say a 2003 Honda Accord was going westbound on I-64 and made a sudden lane change to avoid stopping traffic.

Officials say when this driver made the lane change, John S. Brown, III sideswiped  a 1997 Toyota 4Runner.

The Toyota flipped over the median and into the water. A passing boat pulled the driver out of the water.

There were no life-threatening injuries reported. The driver suffered minor cuts and abrasions.

Brown was charged with unsafe lane change. The westbound lane is still shut down.

NewsChannel 3 spoke with the citizens who actually jumped into action to save the driver from the water.

"I heard this big pow and I looked up and I saw the car in the water," says Pam Tripp.

Tripp saw the man quickly getting himself out of his SUV and climbing onto the roof of the vehicle.

She lives just 50 yards from where the car went into the water. She called 911 to get emergency crews to Sterling Court in Virginia Beach.

She then yelled for her husband to help.

The couple has lived in the area for the last 33 years.

They say this is a scene they've never witnessed until today. Johny got into his boat and went to rescue the man.

He says once the man saw him, he was almost numb.

The couple wrapped the man's bloody arm in a towel and they all waited on the dock for paramedics.

No one else was in the car with the man. He went to the hospital. His condition is unknown. The Tripps know they would take action again if they had to.