Smithtown, NY - January 9, 2016 - Suffolk County Police, with assistance from Park Rangers, rescued a man who fell in a lake at a Smithtown park after trying to retrieve his dog this afternoon.
A 56-year-old Brooklyn man was walking his dogs at Blydenburgh County Park, located on Veterans Memorial Highway, when one of his dogs, Dena, got loose and ran onto a frozen lake at approximately 11:50 a.m. The man attempted to retrieve the dog and fell in the lake in chest-deep water.
Officers from the Fourth Precinct, Emergency Service Section, Aviation Section, Marine Bureau and Park Rangers responded. Emergency Service Section Officer Michael Coscia put on a water rescue suit and crawled out on the ice tethered to a rope held by Officer Michael Simpson and Officer Robert Stahl. Sergeant Michael Homan, Officers Simpson and Stahl pulled the man and the officer from the water. The dog was able to walk off the ice.
The man, who had been in the water for approximately 25 minutes, was transported by personnel from the Smithtown Fire Department to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of hypothermia.