ANDOVER, Minn. — On Thursday morning in the height of our spring snow storm the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single car accident on Bunker Lake Blvd and Crosstown Boulevard in the city of Andover. A vehicle had lost control on the icy roadway, slid sideways and jumped the curb while going through a fence into a deep pond in the southeast corner of the intersection. Upon the Deputies arrival, the vehicle was completely submerged in the water and the driver, Zach Steven Fritz, a 19 year old male from Andover, was out of the car, but struggling to stay afloat in the water.
Deputy Chris Pierro, who has been with the Sheriff’s Office for five years, arrived on the scene, removed some of his equipment and clothing and jumped in to the frigid water to swim to the victim and then swam the victim to the shore where Allina Paramedics and the Andover Fire Department gave aid to the victim. The victim was transported to Mercy Hospital for treatment. Deputy Pierro was evaluated by paramedics, but did not require any treatment.
Sheriff James Stuart said, “Although these instances do not occur every day, our deputies are always prepared to put themselves in harms way in order to protect the public that we proudly serve. I am very proud of the work our team does every day, Deputy Pierro truly demonstrated heroics as our first responders sought to save this driver.”
