Police body cameras capture dramatic water rescue in Forney
FORNEY (CBSNewsTexas.com) – During flash flooding in Kaufman County nearly two weeks ago, Forney Police Officers Jordan Bailey and Braden Warner searched the Summer Haven mobile home park for a woman in trouble.
"It was very intense. We'd already been to several accidents," recalled Officer Bailey of the storms that night.
"Call came up as a water rescue," remembers Officer Warner.
Like other drivers throughout the county, the woman had been swept off the road into a now flooded creek. Surrounded by rushing water, she now clutched at the door of her car.
"The vehicle was up on its bumper, leaned up against the tree," said Bailey. "It was about 3 to 4 inches thick, so it wasn't very supportive."
Newly released body camera video shows the officers wading into the water toward her.
"We're coming for you!" Bailey yells in the video.
"My initial thought was, if she does let go - she's gone. We also got word there was possible kids in the car. That hits deep," said Warner.
"Ma'am? There are kids in the car?" yells Bailey to the woman.
A dog, she told them.
Already chest deep in water, the officers found themselves unable to walk further.
"It was that final 10 feet we realized, you know, that we were kind of on a drop off," said Bailey.
"I'm gonna try to get to her," Bailey says in the video.
"There's a drop right here," Warner warns.
"I know, but we got to... we got to get to her," Bailey replies.
It was then they decided to jump in and swim.
"Let's go together," said Bailey. "Ready?"
"Ready," Warner response.
Their body cameras go black as they hit the water, catching only flashes of what comes next.
From other officers' cameras, we get a better view.
"They're holding onto the car with the driver of the stranded vehicle," you can hear one announce into their radio.
Officer Warner clutched the car with one arm.
"My other arm was wrapped around her waist," he said of the driver.
"Through radio traffic, I could tell they were in the water," said Officer Sarah Borchers. "It sounded like they were under water."
The third officer at the scene, Officer Borchers began relaying information on the radio, cleared a path to the water, and guided arriving firefighters to the water's edge.
"We've got at least one officer, maybe two in the water," she tells firefighters in the video.
Sgt. Markeith Pleasant, meanwhile, who'd been responding to a nearby call broke into a run, rushing to the water's edge and diving in, as well, to get as close as possible and help oversee the response.
"In your heart, you feel time ticking," he said.
Using a rope, firefighters pulled the woman to dry ground.
Officers helped the dog out of the car, allowing him to swim to shore.
Then, firefighters got the officers out, too.
"I thought I was dead," said Bailey emerging from the water.
Collapsed on the water's edge and catching his breath, Bailey asked for the woman.
"Did they get her? Is she out? Is she okay?" he said.
While so much could have gone wrong that night, it didn't.
"It was a feel good moment. She was able to get out. Her dog was able to get out," said Warner.
Officers say, nearly two weeks, they're glad they were there to help.
The Forney Police Department says, while water rescues are not a typical police duty, it does anticipate they may become more frequently as the city grows and now plan to hold training in the coming months with the fire department to be better prepared.