CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The quick actions of two Clearlake Police officers saved a man whose boat capsized in Clear Lake Sunday night.
Clearlake resident Ronald Bell, 55, was pulled safety from the lake, according to a report from Sgt. Dominic Ramirez of the Clearlake Police Department.
Ramirez said that just after 7 p.m. Sunday Clearlake Police officers Elvis Cook and Travis Parson were on patrol when they were dispatched to the 12400 block of Lakeshore Drive to assist the Lake County Sheriff’s Office regarding a subject yelling for help who was possibly in Clear Lake.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office boat patrol also was being dispatched to the area and was responding from Lakeport, Ramirez said.
When Cook and Parson arrived in the area they heard a male subject who was approximately 150 yards from the shoreline yelling for help. Ramirez said the man, later identified as Bell, was yelling to officers that he was tired, cold and cramping, and stated he was going to drown.
Cook and Parson commandeered a small aluminum boat from a nearby resident, according to Ramirez. The officers began rowing the boat out to Bell, who they found and pulled into the boat.
Bell told the officers that he was out fishing in a small aluminum boat when it tipped over, dumping him in the water, Ramirez said.
Ramirez said Cook and Parson rowed Bell to the shoreline, where Lake County Fire Protection District paramedics provided medical aid.
Late Monday, Bell was reported to be in stable condition and was being treated for precautionary reasons, Ramirez said.