Upon arrival he sprints to the water, asks another officer for a baton, then quickly jumps in the water. He repeatedly struck the driver’s side window until it smashed, then pulled the woman out as water rushed in.
Multiple officers deployed water rescue kits while two officers swam to save the drowning child and the adult female who was in the water. In a combined effort, officers were able to safely return to land with the child and the woman.
If the water rescue is something that the patrol officer cannot safely perform, Sgt. Andrew Rausch says the best action is to keep an eye on the victim and wait for a swiftwater team, whether fire or police, to arrive.
One responding deputy had 200 feet of rope in his patrol vehicle. Combined with that, five deputies formed a human chain to pull the woman to safety in rushing water reported to be 10 feet deep.
“Obviously, we've been hit. We've been hit very hard,” says Sheriff Carmine Marceno, who surveyed the damage by helicopter. “I can tell you from the heart, there are no words that can describe what we got to see.”
The incident happened around 11 p.m. when the driver mistakenly went down a boat ramp on a foggy night.
“When you get it, wrap it around your body,” the trooper instructs the child. “I just don’t want you to let go, okay. Wrap it around you and hold on really, really tight.”
Carter wanted to thank the officer and as he hugged him, he said, “I never in my life thought I’d hug a cop.”
"Our goal is to lessen the time from arrival to getting into the water. We believe this new boat will save precious minutes, will require a smaller launching and retrieval crew, and allow us to travel where currently no boat can."
“Come on buddy, come on. Come on,” the deputy tells the man as he drags him from the water onto the bank. “You’re going to be fine buddy.”
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