HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Body camera footage from two heroic Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies showed the harrowing moments when they pulled a four-year-old boy with autism from a pond early Tuesday morning.
Just before 10:30 a.m. on July 11, 2023, HCSO deputies were called to respond to Valleyridge Court, where a concerned citizen had called 911 regarding a young child seen running across the street and into a nearby pond.
Two deputies arrived at the scene and immediately began searching the water. After thoroughly looking through the thick shrubs at the edge of the pond, they located the boy, who was being kept afloat by cattails, and pulled him to safety.
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“I shudder to think of the outcome if not for the tenacity and efforts of these deputies,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “We will now work with the Department of Children and Families to determine if negligence played a role in this young boy’s disappearance.”
Deputies discovered that that the boy was also nonverbal after rescuing him. The boy did not sustain any life-threatening injuries and was reunited with his family.
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