Heart-stopping body camera footage shows the moment a Florida sheriff’s deputy rushed into a large pond to rescue a missing 5-year-old autistic boy who had run away from his home on Tuesday night.
According to the video, a Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy was scouting a wooded area adjacent to a body of water in the city of Deltona when he heard the sound of a young child screaming.
“Got him, got him,” Deputy Wes Breaux said, running toward the small voice.
Another deputy’s body camera then captures Breaux running into knee-deep water, scooping up the boy, holding him tightly and bringing him back to shore.
“Are you OK? What’s your name?” the officer asked as he lowered the boy to the ground.
“Do you want to go meet your parents?” Blow says in the video as he picks up the boy.
According to the sheriff’s office, the 5-year-old boy’s father called police around 7:30 p.m. after the boy ran out the home through a second-floor door, setting off an alarm.
The boy’s family and police searched the area but did not return, and authorities then began searching for him near waterfronts after reports emerged that the boy has autism and is drawn to water.
The boy was found about 20 minutes after he disappeared and returned to his family.
“It was determined the family had taken several steps to ensure the safety of their home, including a door alarm that would have immediately alerted them to the juvenile’s disappearance,” the sheriff’s office said.
