Alpena Township Police release video that shows dam rescue

Police on Wednesday released body-worn camera footage showing part of the dramatic rescue of a 10-year-old boy near the base of Four Mile Dam in Alpena Township last week.

In a Twitter post, the Michigan State Police Seventh District, headquartered in Gaylord, shared two minutes of body cam footage from Trooper Nicholas Talbot, of the MSP Alpena Post, as he assisted in the rescue on Thursday.

Water flowing from the dam caught the boy in an undertow and left him clinging to the dam’s concrete base, his mother on shore and unable to reach him.

Two paid-on-call firefighters, who happened to be nearby when the boy’s sister called 911, used equipment provided by Talbot and Sgt. Bryan Jarema, also of the Alpena post, to rescue the boy.

The body cam footage shows Talbot throwing a safety rope to the boy and yelling encouragement as the boy called in distress and fought to stay afloat until Wilson Township firefighter Chris Kinsey reached him.

Not shown in the video, Kinsey swam the boy to shore as Alpena Township firefighter Jacob Ordway handled the safety rope to keep the swimmers from being swept underwater by the current.

Kinsey and Ordway were honored for the rescue at a ceremony in Alpena on Saturday.