Two retired New York City police officers are being credited with saving a woman and her 5-month-old baby from the East River on Sunday. The woman reportedly walked into the water while holding the child, according to The New York Post.
The incident occurred shortly before noon near Hermon Macneil Park in College Point, Queens, where the former officers were volunteering at a Halloween parade.
“We heard a lot of screaming, and somebody yelled, ‘You guys gotta get over there!’” said retired NYPD officer Kevin O’Donnell, who previously led the Community Affairs Office at the 109th Precinct. “She was walking straight out into the water.”
O’Donnell and his friend Paul Pinsdorf, a 20-year veteran of the NYPD, immediately ran toward the scene. O’Donnell called 911 as they spotted the woman wading chest-deep into the river with the infant.
Pinsdorf recalled, “I go, ‘Kevin, take my stuff I gotta go in there.’” Noticing that “the baby’s head was almost under the water,” he rushed to pull both the woman and the child back to safety.
“She resisted me. I had to go all the way out there and pull her in,” Pinsdorf said.
O’Donnell described watching his colleague swim into the river to reach the woman. “He eventually came up from behind her. By then it was up to their neck in the water, both her and the baby she was holding. He grabbed them both,” O’Donnell said. “He’s a hero. He was the one that grabbed her and pulled her out.”
As Pinsdorf struggled to drag the woman to shore, O’Donnell noted there was a “language barrier” and that the woman caused a “commotion” as first responders arrived.
EMS and NYPD officers reached the scene moments later and assisted in getting both the woman and the baby out of the water.
“I’m happy, I did a good thing today,” Pinsdorf said after the rescue.
According to the NYPD, the 30-year-old woman was transported to North Shore University Hospital, while the infant was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital for evaluation.
Authorities said it is not yet clear whether the woman is the baby’s mother or what her intentions were at the time of the incident.
The quick response of the two retired officers, both volunteering for a community event, likely prevented a tragedy along the East River. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
https://www.lifezette.com/2025/10/former-nypd-officers-save-woman-carrying-baby-into-the-east-river-watch/