Passer-by rescues motorist following one-car accident in South Brunswick.
By: Elaine Worden
Alissa Orsini stands 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 125 pounds.
But she managed to pull a 200-pound man from his burning 1998 Infinity I30 on Wednesday night.
Ms. Orsini, 23, and her cousin, Amy Matthews, both of Montgomery, were on their way home on Deans Rhode Hall Road at 9:30 p.m. after going furniture shopping with Ms. Orisni’s father when they found themselves driving through a cloud of smoke.
She said they were singing along to rap artist 50 Cent as they were passing Washington Cemetery when they realized that something might be on fire.
That’s when they saw the burning Infinity in the cemetery. South Brunswick police said 33-year-old Rajendra Naidoo of Sayreville had been driving east on Deans Rhode Hall Road when he lost control of his car and veered off the road. He crashed through a chain link fence and rolled over twice before coming to a stop upright in the cemetery.
Ms. Matthews called 911, and Ms. Orsini pulled over and ran to the Infinity. Mr. Naidoo, who is 6 feet, 1-inch tall and weighs 200 pounds, was trapped in the driver’s seat.
Flames were coming out from under the dark green car. Its windshield was shattered and the airbag had deployed.
"The flames were getting bigger and he wasn’t getting out of the car," said Ms. Orsini.
Worried that the car might explode, Ms. Orsini tried to coax the man out of his car.
"I kept saying, ‘You need to get out, you need to get out,’ " said Ms. Orsini.
Realizing that the driver-side door was jammed shut, Ms. Orsini reached through the broken driver-side window and grabbed Mr. Naidoo, pulling him out of the car.
The two walked about 20 feet from the wreck. Mr. Naidoo then laid down on the ground. Ms. Orsini said he complained that his neck and back were both in pain.
The police arrived about five minutes later, to find the front of the car engulfed in flames.
"Really, with the flames, there was no way we could have gotten him out of the vehicle," said South Brunswick Police Detective James Ryan.
The Monmouth Junction First Aid Squad transported Mr. Naidoo to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he is listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit, police said.
The Monmouth Junction Fire Department extinguished the flames. The accident is still under investigation.
Ms. Orsini said that she was glad her cousin noticed the fire.
"If I was by myself, I wouldn’t have turned around I didn’t even notice it," said Ms. Orsini. "I just think, what would have happened if she hadn’t said anything."

