A police officer in Haughton, Louisiana faces disciplinary action after he attempted to rescue a family from a flood last week.
Jamie Stathem was driving down Davis Road in Bossier Parish on the night March 8 with her two children in her SUV when it was forced off the road by rushing water from the overwhelmed Foxskin Bayou, according to KSLA-TV.
"The road gave way and the front end dropped down and started floating," Stathem told the news station.
The road had been washed away, leaving the road buckled with drop offs close to 3 feet deep. The vehicle continued to float down the road until it became snagged on a barbed wire fence.
The mother then told her children to get of of the vehicle onto its roof when her daughter Alexus fell into the water.
"No worse feeling in the world when you hear your baby scream 'Mommy, help me!'. I just dove in after her," she said.
Her son, Brandon, steadied himself on the roof of the SUV as he called 911.
Soon a Haughton police officer arrived on the scene and Stathem said that seeing the blue lights on his cruiser "gave us the will power to give us the strength to keep holding on."
Moments later, the police SUV was pushed off the road by the rising waters and the officer jumped out as it floated away.
He grabbed onto a tree just feet away, becoming stranded himself.
Bossier Parish deputies attempted to reach the officer and the family with a high water vehicle, but were unsuccessful. Firefighters with Bossier District 2 eventually use a boat to saved them.
Following the incident, KSLA learned that the officer is facing discipline due to his actions.
Haughton Police Chief Rodney Farrington couldn't confirm whether disciplining the officer is over the officer responding just outside the city limits or because a police vehicle was totaled in the flood waters.
Stathem said that she remains grateful for the officer's bravery and doesn't believe its right that he should be punished.
"He was just doing his job," she said. "It was the right thing to do,"
While the officer involved didn't want to be identified nor comment on the situation, he told the news station that he would do it all over again to save a life.
