Two Sinking Car Rescues in Dunedin, 7 Months Apart

In an odd coincidence, two men from Palm Harbor have rescued women by pulling them from sinking vehicles in incidents that occurred in Dunedin exactly seven months apart. Meet the man behind the latest rescue.

On the afternoon of Sept. 14, Dan Isabelle, 46, and his son Daniel Jr., 13, were headed to Westfield Countryside Mall, driving south on Belcher Road in Dunedin, when they saw a car plunge into a pond near the intersection of Michigan Avenue. "There was a car up in the air and plunging right into the water and a huge splash, Isabelle said. "I was like, 'Oh, my God!'" Isabelle is the second Palm Harbor man to rescue a woman from a sinking vehicle from waters in Dunedin in the past seven months.  Coincidentally, Isabelle's rescue was seven months to the day after John Thorington, 52, rescued a woman from the intracoastal waterway off Edgewater Drive on Valentine's Day.  Isabelle said the 1992 Honda Accord traveled airborne for about 10 to 15 …

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Good Samaritan Rescues Woman Who Crashed Into Pond

The 20-year-old driver was pulled out of her car window to safety Thursday before the vehicle sunk into a retention pond at the corner of Belcher Road and Solon Avenue in Dunedin.

A good Samaritan rescued a woman after her car crashed and sank into a retention pond Thursday in Dunedin, deputies said. The driver, 20-year-old Bailey Hartman, of Largo, was driving south on Belcher Road around 4:45 p.m. Thursday when she was apparently cut off by an unidentified vehicle that made a U-turn in front of her, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office reports. Hartman swerved to avoid a collision but lost control of her 1992 Honda Accord, crashing into a pond at the corner of Belcher and Solon Avenue. Palm Harbor resident Joseph Daniel Isabelle, 46, who was driving by and witnessed the crash, immediately pulled over, took off his shirt, set aside his cell phone and jumped into the water, deputies said. Isabelle helped Hartman …

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Good Neighbors

Good Samaritan Helps Extinguish Dumpster Fire

Patrick Donoghue surprised an entire office when he sprang into action at the sight of smoke rising over a building on Main Street last week.

Editor's Note: Dunedin Patch reader Kevin Donoghue submitted this account about a fire that his son Patrick Donoghue found on Friday, July 6. Kevin Donoghue is also the father of Janet Donoghue, assistant general manager for the Dunedin Blue Jays. Sonny Thornton, Patrick and I own a building at 533 Main Street across from Dunedin City Hall. Because we didn't need all that space for our office, in 2010, we rented it to Big Frog and moved to [a] space near the Holiday Inn.  Last Friday, Patrick wanted to be sure a letter he had written to a client got mailed that day, so he drove from our office to the mailbox outside City Hall. As he was depositing the letter, he noted smoke and flames coming from what appeared to be the back of the …

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Katie Dolac

11:21 am on Monday, July 16, 2012

Kevin, thanks so much for sharing this story. The account had be laughing out loud. Also, kudos to Patrick for springing into action! It's good to hear we have such good neighbors!   more ›