Reserve Officer Rescues Two Boys From Channel
A San Fernando reserve police officer was nursing injuries Sunday after rescuing two boys who were swept two miles down the Pacoima Wash flood control channel.
The brothers, ages 10 and 13, had been riding bicycles near El Cariso Regional Park in Sylmar on Saturday evening, said Sgt. Jeff Eley. One boy became caught in the current, and the other tried to help.
Officer Paul LaBella positioned himself downstream and was swept into the knee-deep current near Laurel Canyon Boulevard as he grabbed the boys.
“They rode him like a raft” until LaBella got hold of a concrete fixture, Eley said. All three were treated for minor hypothermia.
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