Cypress Police officers save man caught in flood control channel

The following information was released by the Cypress Police Department. Map courtesy of Google maps. Emphasis added.

On April 13, 2012, at approximately 1:43 p.m., Cypress Police officers were dispatched to the Stanton Storm Channel to the rear of the business complex located at 11155 Knott Avenue regarding a male subject that was seen floating in the water.

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As officers were en-route to the location, police dispatchers received information from another witness that the subject was now ½ mile west of where he was first spotted.

Officers coordinated their response with officers from the Los Alamitos Police Department to maximize their potential to locate the subject. Corporal Anderson of the Los Alamitos Police Department and Lead Patrol Officer (LPO) Morales of the Cypress Police Department located the victim ¼ mile west of Valley View Street.

The subject floated to the side of the channel and was able to cling to rocks on one side. Corporal Anderson was the first officer to reach the victim and quickly grabbed a hold of him, keeping his head and shoulders from going below the rapidly flowing water.

A request was made for assistance from the Orange County Fire Authority’s Swift Water Rescue Team. However, the situation was deteriorating rapidly as the subject said he could not hold on any longer and was not able to assist officers in his rescue.

The two officers were assisted by several citizens as they pulled the subject from the water. The speed of the flowing water stripped the subject of his trousers making his rescue even more difficult.

The subject was treated at the scene by paramedics from the Orange County Fire Authority and later transported to a local hospital. The victim was identified as a 46 year old homeless man from Stanton and he is being treated for signs of hypothermia and water in his lungs.

The Cypress Police Department would like to take this opportunity to warn the public that it is not only dangerous to enter flood control channels, but it is against the law.