Commuter Takes Heroic Leap

Daniel Santos was just another commuter, one of thousands jamming the long, sloping Tappan Zee Bridge for the routine drive home to New York City’s northern suburbs.

The Monday afternoon trip became anything but routine when, just ahead of him, a woman slammed her Chevrolet Blazer into a railing, got out and jumped into the Hudson River, 150 feet below.

The 21-year-old Santos, a volunteer fireman, reacted in what friends said was predictable fashion. He got out of his pickup truck, walked to the rail, gave his wallet to an onlooker, “looked over the edge and did a swan dive in,” said state police investigator Michael Kopy.

The long drop left both Santos and the woman, Maria Cappozza, 24, of Greenwich, Conn., injured and semiconscious, but alive.

Kopy said Santos swam to the woman and reached her about the same time as a boat from a nearby marina.

“Both were in a lot of pain,” said Ted Tenen, one of the men in the boat. “His back was all black and blue He was in so much pain I don’t know how he was swimming.”

Santos, who lives in Spring Valley, was in serious condition Tuesday. His sister said he was in severe pain, but apparently had no broken bones.

The woman’s condition was withheld at her family’s request.

Kopy said it may have been the first time anyone lived through such a leap.