Man Saves Girl With 20-Foot Leap Into Sea

A West Covina man leaped 20 feet into the ocean from a restaurant window on the Redondo Beach pier to save a 3-year-old girl who had fallen into the water, officials said Monday.

“I didn’t stop to think about it,” said Larry Abeyta, 51, a deliveryman. “I just wanted to get ahold of the baby.”

After rescuing the girl, Abeyta returned to his dinner table without even giving his name and continued eating his meal of halibut and shrimp. When his girlfriend suggested they leave, Abeyta replied in his soaked clothes, “No, we came here to have dinner, so let’s have dinner.”

The child, who was not seriously injured, was treated at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and released. Officials did not release the identity of the girl or her parents.

Fire officials said the girl wandered away from her family’s table at Old Tony’s Restaurant about 6:45 p.m. Sunday to look out a sliding window. Not realizing that the plate glass window was open, the girl fell 20 feet through the opening, landing in ocean water about 6 feet deep.

As the girl’s mother screamed, “Help her!” Abeyta jumped into the water through the same window and surfaced to find the girl floating face down about three yards away.

If he hadn’t leaped in, “the girl would have died for sure,” said Capt. Carl Whitaker, a fire official who responded to the scene.

While swimming through waves to shore, Abeyta said, he concentrated on keeping the child’s face above the surface, adding that he felt some relief when he heard her begin to cry. With hundreds of beach-goers looking on, Abeyta handed the girl to her waiting father, who embraced her tightly until paramedics arrived.

“We are shocked that this happened, but, right now, our focus is on the fact that our daughter is alive and well,” the parents said in a statement issued through city officials. “Words cannot express how grateful we are to Larry Abeyta for his prompt act of bravery. He is our hero!”

Steve Huang, the director of Engineering and Building Services for the city, said the lack of a sufficient landing outside the window of the ‘50s-era restaurant violated city building codes.

Huang cited the restaurant and ordered its owners to install a locking system to prevent the windows from sliding open more than 4 inches until a more permanent solution can be devised.

Restaurant management declined to comment on the incident.

Whitaker also called Abeyta a hero.

“It’s truly amazing,” Whitaker said. “This man had total disregard for his own safety.”