BROOKLYN — A driver was found dead inside a car submerged in a Marine Park creek Tuesday after he drove through a fence a day before, police said.
James Miro, 31, was driving south on Gerritsen Avenue, near Lois Avenue, when he crashed his Honda Accord into a fence and landed in Shell Bank Creek around 5 a.m. Monday, the NYPD said.
Neighborhood residents said they discovered the hole in the barrier Monday evening, but didn't realize a car had entered the water until the next day.
"My husband stops every evening to get the mail," said Victoria Gardner, 60, whose fence was torn apart by the car.
"He said, 'You know the fence is down? It looks like a car hit the fence.'"
Gardner said she and her husband consulted a nearby neighbor's surveillance footage Tuesday and realized the car might be in the water.
"It was going really fast. It hit the fence and kept going," she said.
"For 10 minutes we watched the video. We noticed the car never came back. We realized it might be in the water."
NYPD Scuba Units responded to a 911 call Tuesday about 3:50 p.m. and removed Miro’s body from the water. He was declared dead at the scene, police said.
Gardner said her block was a hot spot for out-of-control drivers.
"It's not rare for us," she said. "I've lived in the house for 27 years and, in two years, nine times they hit our fence. Some of them ended up in the water.
"Many people come and do the doughnuts with their cars at 3, 4 in the morning. It's very noisy."
