Lake and McHenry County Scanner

Good Samaritan, police officer team up to rescue man in distress in water in Wonder Lake

Posted: 07 Jun 2022 09:56 AM PDT

Officer Horning with the Wonder Lake Police Department (left) and Stephen Bittner, a Wonder Lake resident, (right) helped rescue a person in distress in the water on Wonder Lake Monday morning. | Provided Photo

A good Samaritan and a police officer both helped rescue a man who was yelling for help and in distress in the water on Wonder Lake Monday morning.

The Wonder Lake Fire Protection District and Wonder Lake Police Department responded around 9:22 a.m. Monday to the 3200 block of East Lake Shore Drive for a report of a water rescue.

Wonder Lake Fire Chief Mike Weber said a person was in the water several hundred feet offshore yelling for help.

Multiple fire department units responded immediately and divers from the Woodstock Fire Rescue District were also dispatched.

As fire crews were launching their dive boat, Officer Horning with the Wonder Lake Police Department and Stephen Bittner, a resident who lives near where the incident occurred, sprang into action.

Horning immediately jumped in the lake and swam all the way out to the victim, Weber said.

Bittner drove out to them in his boat and together they were able to rescue the male victim.

An unidentified person on a green kayak also assisted in the rescue.

The victim was brought back to shore safely where he was transported by ambulance to the hospital.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and McHenry Township Fire Protection District also assisted during the incident.

Weber said Horning and Bittner did an “extraordinary job” in saving the victim.