2,200-pound lawn mower slides into pond at NJ golf course, pins groundskeeper for 20 minutes

NJ golf groundskeeper pinned in pond by lawn mower

PLAINSBORO, N.J. — A 2,200-pound lawn mower being operated by a groundskeeper at a New Jersey golf course has slid down an embankment into a pond, pinning the groundskeeper for more than 20 minutes.

Police say 74-year-old Donald Kelber kept his head above the water until rescuers arrived and used a backhoe and chains to pull the machine off him. They say the North Brunswick resident escaped serious injury.

Police say Kelber was mowing grass at the Meadows at Middlesex Golf Course in Plainsboro on Monday morning when the machine went down a 10-foot embankment and landed in the water hazard.

Kelber has been hospitalized for treatment of a cut to his right calf and a broken finger.