HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Hillsborough County deputies responded early Tuesday morning to rescue a 4-year-old boy with autism from a pond, according to the sheriff’s office.
In a release, the sheriff’s office said that deputies were called to Valleyridge Court just before 10:30 a.m. after a concerned citizen reported a child running across the street into a nearby pond.
Body camera video shows the two responding deputies immediately start searching through the water, eventually finding the boy, who had been kept afloat by some cattails.
Body camera footage from two heroic Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies shows the harrowing moments when they pulled a four-year-old boy with autism from a pond early Tuesday morning.
— HCSO (@HCSOSheriff) July 12, 2023
Just before 10:30 a.m. on July 11, 2023, HCSO deputies were called to respond to… pic.twitter.com/UkdrrqnJpk
The boy was pulled to safety, and deputies later learned that he was nonverbal, the release states. Deputies said he didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries and was released to his family.
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“I shudder to think of the outcome if not for the tenacity and efforts of these deputies,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “We will now work with the Department of Children and Families to determine if negligence played a role in this young boy’s disappearance.”
An investigation is ongoing. No additional information was provided about the incident.
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