JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The woman who called 911 and her son described witnessing Jacksonville Jaguars running back Denard Robinson falling asleep at the wheel and driving off the road into a retention pond early Sunday morning on the Southside.
Winifred Henry and her son, Antonio Henry, said they didn't even know it was Robinson when they stopped to help.
"The entire time I'm just saying, 'Jesus,' because I'm hoping the person in there is OK," Winifred Henry said.
UNCUT: Crash witnesses say Denard Robinson barely missed their car
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office crash report, Robinson, 25, was driving a black Chevy Impala west on Beach Boulevard about 4:30 a.m. Sunday and tried to turn left on Southside Boulevard, but made a wide left turn that sent the car over a sidewalk and down an embankment into the pond.
"I told my son, I said, 'Antonio! Antonio! It's in the water! It's in the water!'" Winifred Henry said. "Came in between these two metal poles, even missed this little stub."
Winifred Henry's husband was having a health emergency and she and her son were out getting medicine for him when they said the Impala drove toward them from the opposite lanes of traffic, barely missing their car before coasting into the retention bond.
"I was hiding the whole time," Winifred Henry said. "I didn't know if there was a bullet through the window. I didn't know if it was a shooting. I was, like, 'Antonio, is everything alright?'"
That's when she called 911.
"There is a car in a retention pond. It just veered right in front of me and came right into the retention pond," Winifred Henry said in the 911 call.
Winifred Henry recounted making the 911 call to News4Jax Wednesday, "Then my son said, 'Ma! Hurry up! Hurry up because there are people in here.' And I was still on the phone with them, saying, 'Come! Come! It's still going down."
LISTEN: 911 caller reports car in pond and 'no one is getting out'
911 dispatcher: "Are you still there, ma'am?"
Caller: "Yes, yes. The car is sinking; it's sinking and nobody is moving from the car."
Winifred Henry said she's thankful she was able to call for help after witnessing the crash.
"Nothing but the grace of God," Winifred Henry said. "Who's out at four in the morning? It definitely wouldn't of been me."
The report said the officer found Robinson and the woman, Marissa Staples, asleep or passed out in the front seat of the car, which was submerged in the water on the driver's side. Sources told News4Jax that the car belonged to Robinson's girlfriend, who is not Staples.
"The driver's side was in the water. The car was tilted. It was just leaning like this and the passenger side was up," Antonio Henry said. "I'm just honking the horn trying to get them to wake up or something."
The officer who filed the report said there were no skid marks to indicate Robinson had tried to brake before he hit the water.
"You can even see the tracks. It came straight, right here," Antonio Henry said.
Robinson opened his eyes when the officer tried to wake the two up, but then went back to sleep, the officer said in the report.
"They were asleep. They were knocked out cold," Antonio Henry said.
Staples rolled down her window at one point and said, "What's up?" the officer said, but she tried to roll the window back up when the officer said the car was in a pond and the two needed to get out of it.
The officer was able to reach inside and unlock the door before Staples rolled her window back up, but he had to physically pull her out of the car, the report said.
According to the report, Robinson was passed out the whole time. When the officer woke Robinson up, he told him he didn't want to leave the car because he thought he was still on the road. The officer had to remove Robinson's seat belt, turn off the car and tell Robinson several times to climb out of the passenger side after he tried at least three times to open the driver's side door, which was under water.
The officer said another officer, Matthew Borgert, was at the scene to screen Robinson for impairment but Borgert "felt the driver was not impaired and should not be charged with DUI." Robinson didn't get a ticket either.
Sheriff Williams announced Wednesday that he has ordered a review of the incident by the officer's chain of command.
"Based on that review, any necessary and warranted corrective action will be taken," Williams said in a statement.
Robinson, who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Jaguars, released a statement Tuesday on his Twitter page:
I just wanted to let everyone know that I was involved in a single-car accident on Saturday night, and thankfully, everyone was safe and remained unharmed.
I thank God every single day for the opportunities he has presented me with, and I'm grateful every morning to wake up healthy.
I should not have been driving that late or when I was that tired, but again, I'm just glad that everyone was safe. God Bless.
The Jaguars also released a statement on the crash:
The team is aware that running back Denard Robinson was involved in a single-car accident over the weekend and is thankful that nobody was injured.
The mother and son said they're thankful they were in the right place at the right time and that no one was hurt in the crash.
"I'm happy he's alright. Denard, I'd love to meet you someday," Antonio Henry said.