Off-Duty Arlington Police Officer Saves Drowning Man At Walden Pond

ARLINGTON, MA — It was no ordinary day at the beach this morning, but for the Arlington Police officer who saved a drowning man before spending the rest of his morning with his two young children playing in the sand at Walden Pond, it comes with the territory.

"You're on 24 hours a day and this is a perfect example of an officer in the right place at the right time doing the right thing," said Concord Captain Tom Mulcahy at a press conference after the incident. See video of the conference below.

Arlington Police Officer Matthew Riley, who's been on the force for the past nine years and has had plenty of experience helping others, said this was the first time he's been in the right place at the right time for a case like this.

About 8:30 a.m. Riley walked down to Walden Pond's main beach with his two children, a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old. It was nearly empty, but for a couple young families playing in the sand, he'd just set his two children up with sand toys when a woman started yelling for help.

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A woman in the shallow water with two young tots nearby was screaming. "Somebody help, somebody help!" he said.

Riley saw a man flailing his arms about 10 or 20 feet beyond the swimming area and about 40 to 50 feet from shore and his instincts took over.

He told his two children to stay put, flipped off his shoes and ran into the water toward the flailing arms.

Riley, who ran track at Arlington High School, was never a lifeguard but he'd had a day of water rescue training in police academy and that immediately came back to him.

"I turned the guy around so he couldn't push me under," he said. And then he started swimming the man to shore.

The man appeared to lose consciousness at one point, but when Riley pulled him to shore, and set him on his side, water drained from the man's mouth and he came to.

"He was really out of it, really groggy," said Riley. And the first thing he said when he was able to talk? "He thanked me and wanted to know my name," said Riley.

Although he wasn't sure what exactly caused the man to go down, he said the gentleman was pointing at his leg, making him Riley think he'd had some sort of leg cramp that caused the incident.

The ambulance arrived about 9 a.m., responding to the multiple 911 calls to find the man conscious and on shore. The man's wife, who had also been swimming across the pond that morning finished her swim and arrived. She'd had no idea her husband had been in trouble, and thanked the officer for saving her husband's life, too.

Concord Police congratulated Ryan on saving the 70-year-old Concord resident's life and Captain Mulcahy said they put him in for a commendation.

"Officer Riley’s heroic actions truly represent the mission and values of the Arlington Police Department and the mantra shared among all police officers that we are never truly off duty," said Arlington Police Chief Fredrick Ryan in a statement.

As for Riley's children, his 5-year-old daughter gave him a high five after all the commotion was done.

"Then she wanted to know how old she had to be before she could swim out and save people like that," he said with a smile. "It turned out to be a good lesson for her," he said as she had extra motivation for her swim lessons later that day.

As for helping that man? "It feels good," said Riley. "But really, I was just thankful I was there," he said.

This comes a day after another man drowned at the pond. The Sunday drowning of a 28-year-old man at Walden Pond is being investigated, but foul play is not suspected.

Watch the full press conference here:

Photos by Jenna Fisher/ Patch staff