Toledo police released body camera footage of a water rescue in North Toledo during which three officers fell through the ice.
At about 11:10 a.m. Friday, first responders were alerted to 17-year-old David Lewis’ situation; he was trapped in the ice in a frozen pond near Cleveland and Ontario streets. The teen was walking with his 11-year-old brother on the pond when he fell in, according to police.
Officers Brian O’Connell, Gary Bunting, and Thomas Killen arrived first, saw the boy struggling, and decided to attempt a rescue, as they believed his life was in danger. With the boy holding himself half out of the water, the officers walked on to the ice to get close enough to throw a flotation device attached to a rope.
The body camera video details the frantic scene as the rescue attempt gets underway.
CAUTION: Video contains some obscenities
It starts with the teenager treading water, surrounded by ice, as Officer O’Connell attempts to throw the rope toward him. As he does, another officer — the one whose body cam recorded the events — starts to move on to the edge of the pond from the bank.
“Oh, it’s cracking,” he says. “Listen.”
Officer O’Connell throws the rope, and briefly goes off screen. A crack and a splash is heard.
Officer O’Connell falls in. A third officer appears, while the extreme cold has put Officer O’Connell in shock.
“Get me out of here!” he shouts.
The third officer tells Officer O’Connell to throw him the line, and they start to frantically pull on it, but it has too much slack.
“Hold onto the rope, Brian!” the officer with the body cam shouts.
With Officer O’Connell still waist-deep in the icy water, his colleague tries to speed things up, and grabs him by the hand.
“Give me your hand, give me your hand!”
But the ice breaks more, and the recording officer goes into the water. There’s muffled shouting as they go under, but then appear to be quickly pulled to safety.
Not all of the rescue was in the video released by police. According to the department, Officer O’Connell went completely underwater, and officers Bunting and Killen were up to their chests in the pond.
The young Lewis and Officer O’Connell were transported to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center for possible hypothermia, according to the police report.
First Published January 23, 2019, 10:31 p.m.
