HACKENSACK, N.J. — Two Bergen County sheriff’s officers are being credited with saving an 80-year-old driver who was found unconscious behind the wheel Tuesday afternoon.

Officers Vargas and Caceres had just completed an unrelated motor vehicle stop around 3:14 p.m. Sept. 1 when a passing motorist flagged them down and reported a driver “slumped over and motionless” at a nearby traffic light, according to the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office.

The officers rushed to the intersection of Essex Street and Polifly Road, where they found an elderly man apparently unconscious inside a locked vehicle.

The driver did not respond to knocking or verbal commands. Vargas attempted to open the doors but found them locked, so she used a window-punch tool to force entry through a window and unlock the vehicle from the passenger side. Caceres then opened the driver’s door.

Caceres determined that the man had no pulse and was not breathing, according to Sheriff Anthony Cureton’s office.

Additional sheriff’s officers arrived moments later, helped remove the man from the vehicle and began performing CPR.

The man was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he is expected to survive. His name was not released.

“Our officers’ quick thinking and decisive action turned a roadside emergency into a life saved,” Cureton said. “This incident is a testament to the training, teamwork, and instincts our Sheriff’s Officers bring to every call.”

The sheriff’s office credited the officers with acting immediately after being alerted to the emergency and also commended the Hackensack Police Department for its assistance at the scene.

What began as an unrelated traffic stop quickly turned into a life-or-death emergency, with the officers’ response giving the driver a chance to survive.