Caught on camera: Palm Bay police rescue 3-year-old autistic boy from canal

PALM BAY, Fla. — A Palm Bay police officer pulled an autistic 3-year-old boy out of a canal Sunday after he slipped away from his home, authorities said.

The rescue was caught on camera.

The boy, identified as Chase, is unable to speak and wandered off after getting through a gate at the home on Anderson Avenue that was usually locked, his mother, Rachel Freddette, said.

“My daughter came in yelling, ’Mom, the gate, the gate. Chase.' So I flew out the door,” Freddette said.

Palm Bay police responded and a quick-thinking traffic officer, searching the most hazardous areas around Freddette’s home, found the boy playing in a nearby canal.

Officer Greg Moore climbed down into the canal and hoisted the boy to safety, returning him to his mother.

“I was putting my hands out trying to reach for him. He would keep turning and trying to keep walking deeper in the canal. Knowing he wouldn't come to me, I went into the canal, picked him up and brought him to the top,” said Moore.

Officers with the Palm Bay Police Department had just received special training to learn how to better respond to children and adults with autism.

“We had a department-wide training come out through our training department, making us aware of the dangers of dealing with children and people with autism. One of those issues is that they are very prone to finding water or bodies of water,” said Moore. “I chalk it up to I happened to be at the right place at the right time. Doing my job.”

Chase was not injured.

“So when they said they found him in a canal, I was really worried," Freddette added. "But they said he was OK. He was just playing in the canal. He has no sense of danger.”

“(There) could’ve been a gator in there. Just that he could make it down there and not get hurt is a miracle in itself,” said Chase’s father, Josh Oliveres. “I thanked them and cried, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’”

The Florida Institute of Technology's Scott Center for Autism Treatment will be providing more training to the department.

“Thank you so much. No one can ever tell you how thankful I am,” Freddette said. “He was perfect. I just brought him in the house and gave him a good bath and held on him for the rest of the day.”

The city also started a special needs registry for families.

Cox Media Group