Body Camera Shows Rescue Of Teen From Icy Pond In Parker
PARKER, Colo. (CBS4)- The 911 calls came of boys falling through the ice on a pond in Parker on Jan. 14. A policeman was the first to arrive and his body camera captured his life saving efforts.
There was no time to waste as Parker Patrolman Trey Biles grabbed a large Aspen tree branch close at hand.
Racing to the pond he had been told there were three boys who fell through the ice but he could only see one.
The video obtained from the Parker Police Department by CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger shows hand over hand the policeman feeds the branch to the Legend High School student Cole Robinson.
Biles: "Where's everybody else at?"
Robinson: "They're gone."
Biles: "What do you mean?"
Robinson: (unintelligible) "They're gone."
Biles: "Grab onto the stick. Hold on buddy."
The boy's life depended on being able to grab on and be pulled in from the frigid waters. Slowly and carefully Biles draws the teen to the shore and survival.
Biles told CBS 4, "He tried to grab it; it was so cold he had no dexterity in his hands and he ended up grabbing it with his forearm and using his face to leverage against the tree."
He says he then tried to find the others beneath the ice.
"I walked back out with my tree branch to the ice hoping I would see some sign of life and figure out where they are at.
South Metro Fire Rescue units then arrived, they pulled Max Gantnier from the murky pond two minutes later, but by then he had been in the water for about 15 minutes. The dive team searched the pond for Patrick Lantz locating him 13 minutes after they arrived. The pond was 12 feet deep in some places and there was low visibility under the water. It is estimated Lantz had been in the water at least half an hour. He did not survive.
Biles sadly noted, "Two kids are gone, two families don't have sons anymore because of a tragic accident."
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
