Law Enforcement Drone Leads Rescuers to Struggling Man in MN Lake

Sauk Centre, MN (KROC-AM News) - A law enforcement drone played a key role in a weekend water rescue in central Minnesota.

A news release issued by the Sauk Centre Police Department says dispatchers handled a 911 call early Sunday morning concerning an intoxicated man who had jumped into Sauk Lake. The call came in just before 2:30 AM.

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The caller told the dispatcher the man jumped into the lake near the Sauk River Dam at the Main Street bridge. He was seen swimming toward the middle of the lake when he began to struggle in the water.

The Sauk Centre Police Department says the responding officers were unable to spot the man from the shore and decided to launch the department's drone to conduct a search. An infrared imaging camera on the drone located the man several hundred feet from the shore.

The officers then used the spotlight on the remote-controlled aircraft to guide members of the Sauk Centre Fire Department to the man's location in the lake. The news release indicates he was successfully rescued and transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he was treated and released.

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