THONOTOSASSA, Fla. — Deputies pulled a 4-year-old boy from a pond Tuesday in Thonotosassa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.
Authorities responded at around 10:30 a.m. to Valleyridge Court after a person called 911 stating they saw a child running across a street and into a nearby pond.
Two deputies arrived and began searching the water through thick shrubs at the edge of the pond. That's when they found the boy who was being kept afloat by cattails and pulled him to safety.
"You see his head," one deputy said, pointing toward the lake. "He's just sitting right there at the edge of the water."
Body camera video released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office showed the two deputies treading through waist-high shrubs.
"I'm gonna get soaked, I'm gonna go get him," another deputy said. "Hey buddy, where are you at, buddy?"
In the background of the video, the child can be heard crying.
Following the rescue, deputies learned that the boy was autistic and non-verbal. He was not hurt during the rescue and was reunited with his family.
"I shudder to think of the outcome if not for the tenacity and efforts of these deputies," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. "We will now work with the Department of Children and Families to determine if negligence played a role in this young boy's disappearance."