Feb. 18--Several police officers braved two-foot waves to save a man who floundered after jumping into Lake Michigan at Belmont Harbor this afternoon to try to save his dog, police said.
Someone called 911 just before 1 p.m. to say a man was in the water, and when officers arrived at the harbor, 3200 N. Lake Shore Drive, they found a 28-year-old man and a dog in the water, said Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Robert Perez.
The officers called for the Police Marine Unit and other rescuers to come to the scene, but they "feared the worst," and so decided to try to rescue the man themselves, Perez said.
Among the first on the scene was Officer Liz Joyce, said Town Hall District Lt. Robert Stasch. Officers said the man was near the mouth of the harbor at Lake Michgian.
Joyce was "able to get down on her stomach at the water's edge and hold onto the man, while the rest of us arrived on the scene, and with a concerted effort, we were able to pull him out of the water," Stasch said.
Waves on the lake "were probably two feet high and splashing over" the lakewall, Stasch said.
The other officers who helped pull the man out were Town Hall Sgt. William Neja and Marine Unit Officer Ed Echevarria.
The man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was in good condition, being treated for hypothermia, and the dog was turned over to the man's girlfriend, Perez said.
Joyce suffered a knee injury but was expected to be treated and released from Illinois Masonic, police said.
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