ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office reports that deputies and the U.S. Coast Guard rescued two adults and two children from their disabled boat drifting in Lake Pontchartrain Thursday morning.
The sheriff’s office reports that at about 5:15 a.m. the U.S. Coast Guard requested assistance from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office in locating the boat.
An STPSO deputy patrolling in the area heard the call for help and responded.
The deputy found the 24-foot Bayliner boat drifting near the Highway 11 bridge with the adults and children onboard.
With the assistance of a U.S. Guard vessel that was in the area, the STPSO deputy was able to secure the boat and pull all four occupants safely onto the bridge.
“I want to thank this patrol deputy, who answered a call for help and used his law enforcement intuition and training to locate and ultimately rescue four individuals,” Sheriff Randy Smith said.
The captain of the boat told deputies he had taken the other adult and the two children, who were visiting from out of state, out on his boat the night before for some night fishing.
The sheriff says the captain told deputies that the boat then lost power and they began drifting in the water between the Highway 11 Bridge and the Railroad Trestle.
No one was injured in the rescue and the boat was safely towed to shore by an STPSO boat.
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