ALBANY TOWNSHIP – A man who drove over a small bridge and into Patty Brook on Monday afternoon escaped through the window of his car as it sank up to the door handles.

Tony Bennett, 39, of Bethel was able to wade through icy water and call for help from a nearby home minutes after the 4:20 p.m. wreck., Sgt. Gary Hill of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department said.

He was taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway where he was examined and later released, according to a nursing supervisor there.

Hill said Bennett was cold and wet but did not appear to have serious injuries.

The temperature Monday afternoon was in the high 20s.

Bennett told investigators he had been driving across a small, one-way bridge on Old West Bethel Road when he encountered a second vehicle coming in the opposite direction, Hill said.

Attempting to avoid a collision, Bennett said he swerved and his Ford swept over the side of the bridge, which has no rails on either side, the sergeant said. The car plunged into the stream and sank.

“It’s a good-sized brook,” Hill said. “All four of the tires were in the water. It was up to the door handles.”

Hill said the car was filled with water when it was finally pulled to shore.