Albion Department of Public Safety Chief Aaron Phipps shared at Monday’s City Council meeting how proud he was of his officers and the civilian who worked together to save an elderly couple from drowning on Thanksgiving.
What started off as a relatively quiet holiday for one ADPS Officer and one Parma man ended up quite differently as they worked together to save two Marshall residents whose black Mercedes Benz ended up in the Kalamazoo River last Thursday. ADPS Officers Zachary Behnke and Scott Austad were at the fire station in Albion when they heard the call at 4:27 p.m. When they got to the scene a small group of people had gathered, and a man was swimming out to the people in the submerged car.
“We were dispatched to a car that had crashed into the Kalamazoo River off of South Superior Street at roughly 70 to 80 m.p.h.,” said Behnke.
Randolph Fox, 47, fishes three or four days a week. He was thinking of skipping Thursday, but his wife suggested he go before dinner. Had his timing been different that day he might have been hit by the driver as he was walking on the shoulder of road.
“… I caught a fish to my surprise…and moved further down the shoreline where the turn off is and the car crashed (where) I was standing not one minute before where the car had crashed,” said Fox.
Fox heard the sound of the car on road and looked over his shoulder and then heard a large splashing sound. “I was looking over my right and saw the car exiting the roadway and just miss a pretty decent size tree there and struck the river,” he said.
Seeing the vehicle sinking and knowing how cold the water was, he thought someone needed to get in the river and find out how many passengers there were and if anyone was injured. His concern was that they may have stopped breathing or were bleeding. Fox used the skills he had learned as an Eagle Scout for this situation. He called 911 first and they asked him for the car’s license number and if any fluids were leaking. Fox said they told him to only go in the water if he felt safe to do so. He didn’t think twice and took off his clothes to his underwear.
“As a Boy Scout in rescue training, they would teach that the number one thing that can kill you in this type of rescue situation is wearing clothes. People can grab on to them and you can swim much freer without those clothes and when I got back out of the water, I would want dry clothes on,” said Fox.
The water was murky, and Fox was afraid of cutting himself on trash or getting stuck in the muck, so he swam to the car. Once he got there, he climbed to the roof to look in the windshield to get a clear view, but the wipers were going, so he slid down to the passenger side and talked with the male passenger.
“The first words out of his mouth was ‘help my wife,’” said Fox. “I said OK and asked him if she was breathing or bleeding and he said he doesn’t know. So, I paused for a minute, saw that she was breathing shallow and was in and out of consciousness.” He climbed back onto the roof and saw that Behnke was getting into the water.
“I was so relieved,” said Fox.
When Behnke arrived he surveyed the situation while Austad got on the radio and relayed what was happening to dispatch and coming emergency vehicles.
Behne described what he saw. “It was a black Mercedes Benz, and I would say it was 20 to 20 yards in the Kalamazoo River off of South Superior Street and when we got there it was all four tires were underneath (the water) and it was halfway up the passenger side door was where the water was at the time when we arrived,” he said.
Once in the water, he felt the mucky bottom grabbing at his ankles and began swimming to the car. Fox told him the condition of the driver, so Behnke went to her first. “She had her seatbelt on. She was in the driver’s seat, and she was not conscious when I came to her. The front door driver’s side was closed, and the window was only partially down,” he said.
From what Behnke observed, he agreed with Fox, they didn’t have a lot of time and both of them worked to get the driver door open. Behnke explained, “He was pushing the top portion where it connects to the roof and I was pulling from the door handle until I got my hand inside the door to push it, and once we got it at a certain point the pressure of the water shot the door pretty much off the hinges, like turning into a flappy door almost at the point.”
Getting inside the car was the first step. “She was stuck in the seatbelt. I struggled with that for a few moments,” said Behnke. “Obviously, because the seatbelt is underwater and I can’t see so I had to go off feeling and I was able to disengage the seatbelt, so I was able to remove her from the vehicle, keeping her head above water, swim her to shore, and give her to Chief Phipps.”
During Tuesday’s interview, Behnke shared what was going through his head during the ordeal. “I am trying to stay calm too because water is not my favorite. It’s not something I trained with…Just stayed calm and tried to break it up to win little battles. Find the seat buckle. Open the door, get her to shore, get the passenger, secure him and get him to shore and that’s all I am telling myself. Just win this one small battle at a time.”
Phipps arrived on the scene and was there to help get the elderly woman to the riverbank. He said, “I got in and met him halfway. Together we pulled her to shore. I pulled Behnke out and was like get out its cold because a lot of people were coming on scene at that point.”
Phipps was getting worried when he arrived at the scene. He said, “The whole car was in the water, but the front end was downward and about half of the backend was still out of the water.” By the time the woman was in his hands, Sheridan Township Fire had gotten the rescue rope out. Phipps was a little worried about Behnke being in the water so long.
“By the time, I turned around Behnke was already back in the water because he said the car was sinking which it was. So, he went out to the passenger side door and got the passenger out. I got a hold of the rescue rope they had and pulled him back in, and we got the male out of the water at the shoreline,” said Phipps.
While Behnke swam out with the rescue rope, Fox was able to hold the passenger’s hand by getting the door open.
“The water was definitely cold,” said Behnke. “I didn’t notice the current of the water was an issue, but like I mentioned before, the muck almost felt like quicksand. You let your legs sit for too long it like grabbed it. So, you had to constantly keep your legs moving to try and make sure that you aren’t getting stuck.”
As Behnkne and Fox were freeing her husband, the woman was assisted by the firefighters on the scene. “They treated her right off the shore. Once the passenger was brought to shore he was escorted to a vehicle where he sat until the ambulances arrived.”Phipps is aware that water and heights are not Behnke’s favorite things. “He will always respond and do whatever is needed despite having those fears. I joke with him about it all the time. But Behnke is a great officer. His character and how he interacts with people and the community, I am not surprised he did it at all.”
The woman was in critical condition when she was transported from the scene by ambulance. Her husband was stable, stating he had some shoulder pain and was also transported to hospital to the east of Albion. Phipps hates to think what would have happened if Fox had not been there and Behnke not willing to jump in the water also.
He said, “Had that witness not been there, it might have been a different story. If nobody had spotted them in the water, it might have been a different story. In time, I think they probably would have died based on her age and that she was in and out of consciousness, It would have been a completely different story had that guy not been fishing and Behnke going straight in the water.”
After Fox was out of the water, a bystander hugged him to keep him warm. Fox’s first thought was of his wife, so he called and said, “I am safe.” He did not warm up quickly. “As soon as I got home, she said I was as cold as an ice cube.”
Phipps took Behnke to the hospital and made sure he got checked over. “I am just proud and thankful of him and proud of doing what he did and for Randy calling 911.”
Both Behnke and Fox agree the team effort got the couple out of the water quickly and are grateful for the area fire departments arriving quickly. “…as I started to relay the information to the shore, there were so many responders there,” said Fox.
Fox hopes he can find out what happened to the Marshall couple and hopes they are OK. He would be happy to hear from them however they can or want to communicate even through the paper.
Behnke feels the same. “I hope everything works out for them and if they do need to talk, I will always be there.”
