Malibu City Council pays tribute to four men for saving a drowning man in Serra Creek
Four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who work locally were honored Feb. 26 by the Malibu City Council for making a swift water rescue and saving a life.
Presentation of commendations will be received by Deputies Frank Espinoza, Jake Lobato, Daniel Bautista, and Rick Vigil for their bravery and heroism.
On Feb. 1, deputies received a call for service in the Serra Retreat neighborhood. “Someone was in distress. They heard screaming,” Espinoza recounted.
Turns out a man was “screaming at the top of his lungs” for help as he got caught in rushing water in Serra Creek. The typically tranquil stream was transformed into a raging torrent of cold water days after an atmospheric river dumped about four inches of rainfall on , with much of the hillside runoff collecting in Serra Creek.
“The man was yelling, hoping someone could hear him,” Espinoza said. “A worker happened to hear him and called 911. We got there in two minutes. When we arrived on scene we could hear somebody screaming. We went toward the screams and could see this gentleman in the creek hanging on for dear life.”
The victim, whom The Malibu Times is not identifying, managed to precariously grab the branch of a bush in the middle of the creek. With the rushing current nearly up to his neck, the four deputies knew they had to act quickly. They asked a resident for a rope and luckily got one.
“We walked along the bridge and got closer to him,” recalled Espinoza.
One of deputies threw the rope toward the victim. The first attempt failed, but on the second throw the victim reached the lifeline. However, there was much more to do to get the man out of the creek.
By the time the man grabbed the rope, he was so exhausted from trying to extricate himself he actually uttered, “I’m going.”
“The water was taking him away,” Espinoza recounted.
Espinoza and Lobato began pulling the man to shore. It was a slippery, cold, wet mess, but once they grabbed his hand and pulled they grabbed his belt to heave him up onto drier land. The victim, nearly swept away, was gasping for breath.
“We pulled him to shore away from the current because the water was going to take him. It was slippery and he had on rubber boots that were filled with water weighing him down,” said Espinoza. “After that we called the fire department so they could check him out. He swallowed a lot of water. He was super cold and couldn’t hang on any longer.”
The whole rescue took about 15 minutes.
“We had no plan. We came up with it as we went along. Between all of us we formulated a plan,” Espinoza said. “He (the victim) never gave us a chance to say he was ready. He said, ‘I’m going.’ Me and Jake pulled him ashore.”
It was Bautista and Vigil who anchored them all in the rescue.
“They pulled the rope from the back. They were holding us too because it was so muddy,” Espinoza commented.
All four deputies ended up soaking wet, but grateful to save a life. The four typically do not carry ropes with them but that is changing now for Espinoza.
“Due to this incident I think we all went out and bought rope,” he said.
If you’re wondering how the man got into this predicament, turns out he was a worker trying to remove a log that had fallen on the Serra Bridge, but the bridge was slippery. He lost his balance and fell as another log hit him, knocking him into the creek.
This is not the first time Espinoza has saved a life on duty. The 45-year-old father of two toddlers was involved in a stolen car pursuit in Malibu in 2015. The suspect crashed the vehicle, killing one person. The 18-year veteran of the force saved the suspect from the burning car.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Christopher Soderlund said, “The deputies acted with bravery and heroism in rescuing this gentleman. This is another example of the outstanding work they do day in and day out. Many times, the public never knows. It’s nice the city is recognizing them for their brave and heroic actions. These events happen all the time, but they never get any fanfare, so it’s nice to see the city honoring the four deputies.
“It’s just part of the job,” stated Espinoza.