

BAYONNE — A man had to swim out of his friend's 2012 BMW X5 wagon Saturday evening after he reversed into Newark Bay from a boat ramp at the 16th Street Park in Bayonne, police said.

The owner of the vehicle, a 31-year-old Lodi man, was watching around 7:30 p.m. Saturday as his friend slowly backed the vehicle, which had to a boat trailer attached, down the ramp so they could retrieve a boat from the water, police said.

But then the vehicle suddenly bolted down the ramp and into bay, police said.

The driver got himself out of the vehicle and the 31-year-old Lodi man and two bystanders helped him back onto dry land, police said.

The driver told cops he was reversing down the ramp when he felt ill and mistakenly stepped on the gas pedal, causing the vehicle to crash into the water, police said.

McCabe Ambulance EMTs took the driver, who was complaining of chest pain, to a local area hospital, reports said.

The driver, who was not identified, was unable to produce a driver's license and was issued a summons for being an unlicensed driver, reports said..

Divers from Bayonne Fire Department Rescue Company 1 went into the water to recover the submerged vehicle and trailer, officials said.