Riptide Pulls Teen to His Death

A 17-year-old Santa Ana Valley High School student drowned Thursday afternoon after a rip current pulled him more than 250 yards from the shore near Newport Pier, authorities said.

Two other swimmers who were with him barely managed to swim back to shore, said Randy Scheerer, a battalion chief for the Newport Beach Fire Department.

Hours later, another water tragedy occurred when a 6-year-old boy drowned in an apartment complex swimming pool in Anaheim. Four police officers tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the boy, fire officials said.

In Newport Beach, divers from the city Fire Department and from Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach, plus an Orange County Sheriff’s Department boat, began searching for the missing teen at 2:30 p.m. and continued for more than two hours, but to no avail.

The teenager’s body washed ashore just after 4:30 p.m. two blocks from the pier at 22nd Street, Scheerer said. The Orange County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Armando Briseno, 17, of Santa Ana.

Bodyboarder Dante Millon and Reynaldo Cartagena, who was playing Frisbee nearby, helped pull the body from the water.

“At first I thought he was swimming. When he didn’t come up for air, I knew,” said Millon, 24, who was walking on the shore. “It was pretty shocking.”

One of the survivors was identified as Diego Rico, 18, of Santa Ana. Rico declined to comment, but his sister, Dulce Rico, said she was relieved to hear her brother escaped with his life.

“I have been just so worried. I’m so glad he’s OK,” she said.

Despite half a dozen lifeguard vehicles near the shoreline where the drowning occurred and news helicopters hovering above, only a few beachgoers seemed to be aware of the tragedy.

Those who were said they felt lucky to have avoided the perilous rip currents.

“I’m kind of worried. It could have happened to me,” said Dave Pedersen, 21, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, who was staying nearby.

“I want to find out about these riptides now,” said friend Eric Wirth, 23.

Authorities blame most beach drownings on rip currents. When water collides at the shore, it can create a strong current pulling out to sea that looks like a river, and it can pull a swimmer hundreds of yards from the shore.

A swimmer caught in a rip current should swim parallel to the shore until free of the rip, then swim directly toward the sand, authorities said.

In Anaheim, Battalion Chief Bruce Jacobson reported that the drowning of the 6-year-old boy occurred just after 5:43 p.m., when the boy was pulled from the apartment pool in the 1400 block of West Cerritos Street.

The boy was taken to Western Medical Center-Anaheim, where doctors tried unsuccessfully to revive him, Jacobson said.

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Deadly Currents

A Santa Ana teenager swimming with his friends near the Newport Beach Pier drowned Thursday after he was swept away from shore by a strong rip tide. How currents form:

1) Incoming surf traps water on shore

2) Water flows along beach until reaching dip in sea floor

3) Dip channels water back to sea, creating fast moving current

Spotting Rip Currents

* Frothy, brown water instead of clear, green

* Riptide flattens incoming waves

Escaping the Pull

* Don’t Panic or swim against current

* Once current wanes, swim parallel to shore

* When possible, ride incoming waves toward shore