Body cam video shows moments after Miami police officer saved a drowning boy

Harrowing body camera footage shows the moments after a police officer saved a boy who was drowning in the Miami River on Wednesday.

Office Ernesto Fernandez was patrolling the Allapattah area along the river in his car when he saw a 10-year-old boy running with a phone in his hand, Fernandez told another officer in an interview the department released Friday.

The boy wasn’t wearing any shoes, Fernandez said.

“So, for some reason, I knew something wasn’t right,” he said.

Fernandez made a U-turn and followed the boy.

“As soon as I pulled up to him, I asked him, ‘Hey kid, what are you doing running? Where’s mommy? Are you OK?’” he said.

Instead of stopping though, the boy took off running even faster, according to Fernandez, who parked his car and followed him through the gates of a marina.

The boy put his phone down, and for a brief moment, Fernandez said he lost sight of him. But, then, the situation became frightening after the officer, who joined the force in 2014, looked into the water behind a docked boat and saw “ripples.”

“I knew at that point he had jumped in already,” Fernandez said.

Quickly, it appeared the boy was drowning and was completely submerged, Fernandez said The officer removed his duty belt and jumped into the water. He grabbed the child, put him over his shoulder and placed him on the platform of a boat.

After “a couple of blows” to the boy’s torso, “water came out of his mouth,” Fernandez said.

Then, something happened that reminded Fernandez of something he’s familiar with at home. The boy gave him a kiss, something his son, who has autism, does when he’s appreciative.

“And, I knew at that point that he was autistic,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said the boys’ two grandmothers, his father and his sisters ran to the scene soon after he was pulled from the river.

“They were thanking me and crying,” he said.

And, the video footage from the incident didn’t come from Fernandez’s body-worn camera.

“As soon as I hit the water, I believe that the camera fell into the river,” he said.