Deputy saves drowning kids in dark pond; the dad is arrested

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By EMERY P. DALESIO

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina sheriff's deputy says he heard wailing in the darkness and plunged into an apartment complex's pond at night to rescue two young girls who, police say, had been thrown there to drown by their father.

Durham County Sheriff's Deputy David Earp was off duty and says he rushed out with little more than his department T-shirt, badge and flashlight after the apartment manager called him at home around 9 p.m. Sunday to report some kind of trouble.

"I heard something about children, that they might possibly be in trouble," Earp said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. "And after I was informed that there were kids involved, instinct took over just to go out there and rescue them."

Earp, who lives around the corner from the pond, spotted the girls in the dark with his flashlight and saw a 5-year-old floating and crying. Her 3-year-old sister was fully submerged. Earp says he charged into water about 5 feet deep and scooped them up, holding one in each arm.

FULL story at link.


Durham County Sheriff's Deputy David Earp speaks to reporters at headquarters in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015. Earp pulled two young girls out of a pond Sunday night after their father allegedly tried to drown them and their brother. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)


In this image made available by the Durham County Jail on Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, shows Alan Tysheen Lassiter, 29 of Raleigh, N.C. Lassiter has been charged with three counts of attempted murder after he allegedly tried to throw his three children in lake on Sunday in Durham County, N.C. A seven-year-old boy was able to get away, but two girls, ages five and three remain hospitalized. (Durham County Jail via AP)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/98c444c51e3b42d3945b389015de9bb8/man-calls-911-tell-police-he-just-tried-drown-his-kids

[shenmue]

1. ...

[Sienna86]

2. Brave officer. Hope the kids have a better life from here on.

Admire this officer risking his life to save the kids. A good guy.

[secondvariety]

3. Yay for Deputy Earp!

That POS Lassiter should be shoved in a wood chipper. "Personal problem" my ass.

[dorkzilla]

7. That is definitely a meth face...

seeing WAAAAAAAAAY to many of these faces and they’re all sunken, marked with cuts, etc. It’s a horrible, cheap, readily available drug that has ended in the loss of life of many an innocent child.

Yay for Deputy Earp indeed! The good ones so often go overshadowed (and yes, there are good cops out there) and he deserves our praise.

[840high]

4. Hero - thank you officer.

[kairos12]

5. A thousand thanks to this officer.

[spiderpig]

6. Add me to thanking the officer.

As for the "father" there are no words.

[7962]

8. What a worthless POS to have for a "father".

One of those times you kinda wish he'd resisted arrest.

[passiveporcupine]

9. So glad this officer was close by

Lassiter said so himself, during a 911 call Sunday night. Between expletive-laden rage and distraught sobs, he told a dispatcher that officials had tried to take away his children as he dealt with a personal problem. He can be heard on the call telling the complex's property manager, "I just drowned my two daughters in the lake back there."

Steve, you sure know how to find depressing stuff to post about. I'm glad this time the officer was able to help...although we still don't know if the younger girl will make it.

So much mental illness in this country that is not being treated.

[3catwoman3]

10. He is not a father, merely...

...a sperm donor.

[mountain grammy]

11. Yes, Deputy, you did one of the best things you could ever do..