Officer uses police dog’s 30-foot leash to save drowning man in canal, CA video shows

A police officer used his K-9’s 30-foot leash to rescue a man drowning in a California canal, authorities said.

Officer Kyle Smith responded on Jan. 6 to witness calls about a man drowning in a canal at Deer Valley Road and Carpenteria Drive, according to a Facebook post by the Antioch Police Department.

Smith was the first to arrive at the scene and saw “a shirtless man in distress in the canal,” police said. The man said he was freezing and couldn’t feel his legs.

The officer, who is also a K-9 handler, threw his police dog’s 30-foot leash over a chain link fence separating the two men and into the canal, according to the release.

The man grabbed the leash, and “Officer Smith pulled him out of the water,” police said.

Officials did not say how the man got into the canal.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District arrived with a ladder to help the man get over the fence.

Police said there was a second report of a person in the canal, but officials couldn’t find another person and witnesses didn’t see anyone else there.

Antioch is 45 miles northeast of San Francisco.

This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Officer uses police dog’s 30-foot leash to save drowning man in canal, CA video shows."