Bodycam video from the Oakland Police Department shows a high-stakes drowning situation near the Lake Merritt Channel, but officers were able to rescue a man by jumping into the water themselves to pull him ashore.
The Oakland Police Department held a press conference Sunday regarding a recent incident where a team of officers saved a drowning man in the waters of the Lake Merritt Channel, according to KTVU.
The incident apparently happened last Sunday, September 29, just before 12:30 am, on the 300 block of East 8th Street, and an OPD officer’s body cam recording of the entire incident can be seen in the Facebook video below.
When the video begins, the man in the water has been lowered some rope, which he’s been able to grab onto, and officers are trying to pull him up the railing of a cement wall. But the man loses his grip of the rope. One officer immediately rips off his shirt and jumps into the water, and a second officer goes in as well. Once they have pulled him close to the shore, two other officers wade in and pull the man safely to land.
The victim appears to be unconscious when pulled ashore, but still breathing. He’s then wheeled away on a stretcher.
"I was just thinking of ways of how we were going to get to him," OPD Officer Jessica Menezes said at a Sunday press conference. Menezes was the second officer to jump in the water, following Sergeant Frank Negrete.
"Failure was not an option for us that night," OPD Chief Floyd Mitchell said at the news conference. "These are the types of stories as chief of police that I just love to talk about, the hard work and dedication these officers have."
As of Monday morning, KTVU is reporting that the unidentified man remains hospitalized, and police have still not determined why he was in the channel in the first place.
Related: Sonoma Sheriff's Deputies Save Woman Drowning in Russian River, She Assaults Them Anyway [SFist]
Image: Oakland Police Department via Facebook
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