On October 26, a retired New York Police Department officer saved a mother and her infant from a river at a park in Queens.
Retired NYPD Officer Paul Pinsdorf recounted hearing screaming and saw a woman walk into the East River with her kid. CBS New York stated that the event occurred at Hermon A. MacNeil Park in Queens’ College Point area.
“She was crying, holding it, and going deeper and deeper into the water,” Pinsdorf told the site. “She’s saying incoherent things, so I couldn’t really make out,” the retired cop, who was nearby volunteering for a Halloween event, explained.
Pinsdorf further claimed that the mother “did not want to come back” and that the baby was almost submerged when he jumped in after them.
According to The New York Post, the 30-year-old mother waded chest-deep into the water while carrying her five-month-old infant. According to the NYPD, the woman was sent to North Shore University Hospital for treatment, while the infant was taken to New York Presbyterian.
A NYPD official confirmed to PEOPLE and CBS New York that the woman, 30-year-old Fei Fei Gao of Queens, has been charged with attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child. She was arrested after being examined in the hospital.
“If Paul hadn’t arrived when he did, I’m not sure what would have happened,” retired NYPD officer Kevin O’Donnell told CBS New York.
The New York Post reports that O’Donnell, who was in the park with Pinsdorf, previously supervised the Community Affairs Office at the NYPD’s 109th Precinct in Queens.
“The woman was stressing over something,” said Brock Weiner, a veteran NYPD cop. “She was fighting him, but she wouldn’t let go the baby.”
