Crime & Safety
Missing Autistic Teen Recovering After Night Spent Outdoors
The teen, who went missing for the second time, spent the night in a backyard in freezing temperatures. See the video of his rescue.
Joseph Michael Barbella fled the San Dee-Lanes Bowling Alley in Malverne Monday evening. Early Tuesday morning, he was found in the backyard of a home a mile away, cold but otherwise safe.
Police said 17-year-old Barbella, who has autism, fled the bowling alley after a loud noise scared him. His disappearance sparked a large manhunt by police, firefighters and volunteers. Thankfully, Barbella was found in the back yard of a home on McIntosh Court in Malverne Tuesday morning.
According to News12, the homeowner saw clothes hanging on her fence this morning and called 911. Police responded and found Barbella shivering in the backyard. He was wearing track pants and a tanktop. Police wrapped blankets around him, and one officers took off his coat to help warm him up.
Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Today... was a really good day. Good because Michael was found alive after missing in the freezing cold for 15 hours. Good because we saw so many police officers care so much about finding the autistic teen. And friggin’ good because we were able to capture the amazing rescue for people to see. Malverne Police and the MTA Police Canine Unit were simply awesome this morning. I saw officer Doug Joseph scale a fence to save the autistic teen who had been outside all night and was hypothermic. Who knows how much longer he could have lasted. Thank you guys... for your effort and your heart. You made today... a really good day.
A post shared by Erin Colton (@erincolton) on Feb 13, 2018 at 7:45am PST
Barbella was taken to Nassau University Medical Center for evaluation, News12 reported. He is expected to be fine.
This is the second time Barbella has ran off and made headlines. Last January, during a Nor'Easter, Barbella had gone missing in his hometown of Franklin Square. He was found the next morning in the backyard of a Town of Hempstead employee, who called the police.
Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
#BREAKING Missing autistic teen found in #Malverne. He’s ok! I’ll have the exclusive video and interview with the people who found him at 9am. pic.twitter.com/TLbUH8FGZv
— Erin Colton (@erincolton) February 13, 2018
Photo: Nassau County Police Department
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