LAUDERHILL, Fla. (WSVN) – Police announced a desperate plea for help from a Good Samaritan reporting a young girl stranded in a lake near her home in Lauderhill.
The good Samaritan told a 911 dispatcher early Thursday morning that he spotted a small child running alone toward the lake in the middle of the night.
“I was driving and there’s a little kid, maybe 3 years old, running down the road. He’s just running away from me. I’m chasing him to make sure nothing happens to him.” said the person on the phone. “I was driving and I said, ‘I don’t know if I’m tripping, but I see either a ghost or a little child.'”
Lauderhill police responded to the scene along South Falls Circle Drive around 1 a.m.
“Okay, he ran towards the lake and I can’t see him anymore,” said the good Samaritan. “See that over there? It’s right there. You have to go out and follow him.”
When officers arrived, they found a 3-year-old girl submerged up to her waist in cold water.
Without missing a beat, Joseph Nistle jumped into the water and pulled the girl out, but got stuck in the mud himself, said Lauderhill Police Sgt.
Nistle then handed over the child to his partner.
“That’s how we got her,” one of the officers said on the body camera video.
Body camera video shows officers pulling Nistle out of the muddy water.
“Help me, Sarge. I’ll throw you one, two, okay? Three!” said the officer.
Officers returned to land to check on the girl’s safety.
“What’s your name?” the officer can be heard asking the 3-year-old.
Shortly thereafter, the mother appeared and told police that her daughter had wandered. It was a horrible situation that could have ended much worse.
Police said the girl’s parents drove her to the hospital as a precaution.
Lauderhill Police Chief Constance Stanley urged parents to use this scary situation as an opportunity to teach their children about water safety and to always supervise their children when near bodies of water. .
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