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Kids Escape Mercedes In N.H. Pond

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May 6, 2008 5:20 pm US/Eastern

Kids Escape Mercedes In N.H. Pond

MERRIMACK, N.H. (WBZ) ― Two children had a close call in Merrimack, New Hampshire when their car rolled into a pond.

Christopher Wheeler, 24, of Nashua and his kids -- ages 3 and 7 -- were at a garage he rents at Bower Pond on Monday evening. 

As they prepared to leave, police say Wheeler had the kids get in the car, and his 3-year-old daughter, Ally, accidentally put it in gear. The car rolled 30 feet down a driveway, across a road, in between two trees and into the pond, with Wheeler running after it.

"I heard it click into gear, and I saw if rolling down the hill and I started booking it," Wheeler said. "It actually hit branches and hit a submerged tree, so it stopped itself."

The 1986 Mercedes finally stopped when it hit a tree stump in the water.

Wheeler got the kids out safely.  They were not hurt.  Afterwards, Ally said the water was "icky."

"I go all the way down into the water," she said. 

Wheeler said he thinks Ally was able to shift back as she was rolling into the water because it was in "park" when the car was in the water.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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