Bergen Police Rescue Pit Bull Swept Away In Saddle River

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Police rescued a pit bull from the Saddle River after he jumped in and was swept away by the current.

Jose Sareta was walking the dog, named Rocky Balboa, near the river bank at River Drive and Marsellus Place. The dog broke free to chase some geese and jumped into the river, said Lt. Richard Uram.

The current took the year-and-a-half-old dog downstream and Sareta lost sight of him.

Wallington and Garfield police officers and Garfield firefighters responded and checked river banks. A rescue boat was launched and the dog was found along the river bank a few hundred yards away from the Midland Avenue bridge, Uram said.

Rocky Balboa was in excellent health and reunited with Sareta, Uram said.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com