NY Troopers Help Rescue Skater Who Fell Through Ice Far From Shore

PAWLING, NY — The recent cold blast that rolled through the Hudson Valley might have made lakes and ponds look inviting for ice skaters, but the conditions were more treacherous than one Dutchess County man expected.

Trooper Denapoli and Probationary Trooper Daniel Dechent (SP East Fishkill), Troopers Bryan Conti and Dominick Mignoli (SP Stormville), Troopers Kevin Litchauer, Michael Kirchner, and Ryan Callaghan (SP Dover), responded to Dutchess Drive, in the town of Pawling, to assist the Dutchess County Sherriff’s Office with a report of an ice skater who had fallen through the ice several hundred feet from shore.

What started as a fun, early winter day on the lake turned life-threatening when he fell through the ice and into the frigid waters.

When the troopers arrived,the skater was still in the water, with only his arms and upper torso above the ice. The Pawling Fire Department, with assistance from the New York State Police, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, Town of Kent Police and NYS Forest Rangers were able to reach the stranded man using ice rescue suits and a kayak.

Once he was secured, the man and two members of the Pawling Fire Department, were pulled back to shore by assisting agencies. In the best holiday gift ever, he was taken by ambulance to Danbury Hospital with hypothermia and is expected to survive.