A 51 year old Rye man who attempted to swim home from the Shenorock Shore Club Friday night had to be rescued by police.
[Watch video below.]
On Friday night around 11:00pm, the Rye Police Department was dispatched to the Shenorock Shore Club at 475 Stuyvesant Avenue, for a party attempting to swim across the harbor to his residence on Hix Avenue. Marine unit assets from the Mamaroneck Police Department, as well as the Westchester County Police Department joined officers from the City of Rye Department in searching for the missing swimmer later identified as 51 year old Kenneth Niejadlik.
Witnesses stated that Niejadlik took off his clothes and stated he was going to swim home from the docks at the Shenorock Shore Club restaurant. When police arrived on scene witnesses stated he had not been seen for approximately 15 minutes. Rye Police Department Drone Operator Officer Dan Dabrowski quickly launched the department drone equipped with infrared from the Shenorock Shore Club docks to assist with the search.
Man Attempts to Evade Police
Officer Dabrowski was able to locate the missing swimmer close to the shore line in the area of the Marshlands Conservatory and lead the marine unit assets to him. Niejadlik made it to shore where he attempted to evade police only to get stuck in the muck on the shore line. The Marine Units assets were able to get Niejadlik on board and transport him to the docks of the American Yacht Club where officers and EMS were waiting. After an evaluation, EMS determined Niejadlik would be transported to Greenwich Hospital for minor injuries.
A New Rochelle Police dive team was enroute the the scene prior to police locating Niejadlik.
Records indicate Niejadlik sits in the City’s Recreation Commission.
The Rye PD’s drone program is a fairly new addition to the department. In the last five years, the police have purchased two drones and they have six officers trained as operators. The department has recently implemented the “drone as a first responder initiative”. For this program, the drone can be launched from the roof of Rye Police headquarters and respond to emergency situations before emergency assets arrive, giving officers a bird’s eye view of the situation prior to arrival.
