Girl, 7, rescued from pond

A police officer on Sunday rescued a 7-year-old girl who was up to her neck in frigid pond water in Penn Township, police said.

The girl wandered away from her grandmother's apartment at the Meadows East Apartments shortly before 5 p.m., township police Sgt. George Pappas said.

Pappas said the girl is autistic and is attracted to water and that her autism was a factor in the incident.

A local resident called 911 and told a county radio dispatcher that she saw a child wearing only a diaper and a T-shirt running across a parking lot at the apartment complex along Morning Glory Lane, township police Officer Theresa Stauffer said. The little girl was headed toward a pond.

At the township police station just a few hundred yards away from the pond, Stauffer sprang into action.

As she headed to her patrol car, Stauffer said she heard the woman tell the dispatcher the child had entered the water.

Stauffer, 31, drove to the pond in less than a minute.

"I could see the child, probably hip deep, walking toward the center of the pond," she said.

The officer ran toward the water, throwing her patrol belt and gun to the ground while yelling to try to get the girl's attention.

But the girl was focused on the water and did not respond to Stauffer, the officer said.

"The water was up to her upper stomach, she was splashing her arms and her teeth were chattering, so I ran into the water," she said.

The mucky bottom of the pond made every step a challenge.

"All I was thinking was, 'Get to her and get her out of the water,' " Stauffer said. "When I caught up to her, the water was up to her upper chest and lower neck."

She came face to face with the girl, who turned her attention to the officer.

"She was muttering, 'Cold, cold,' " Stauffer said.

The officer put her arm around the girl and pulled her from the pond.

In all, the girl was in the frigid water for about three minutes, Stauffer said. She was cold to the touch and appeared to be suffering from the early effects of hypothermia.

A responding Manheim Borough police officer helped the child into the back of his heated car and a state police officer wrapped her in a hypothermia blanket, Stauffer said.

The girl was transported by ambulance to Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center and was later released to her mother, Pappas said.

"The child was fine," he said.

The girl's mother could not be reached for comment Monday.

The mother and the grandmother were frantic and deeply concerned during the incident, Pappas said.

Stauffer said the grandmother reported her she was in the bathroom for a short time when the little girl left the home.

She said the door had been locked, and she did not know how the child got outside, Stauffer said.

"The grandmother told me it was not the first time the girl tried to enter a pond or source of water by herself," Stauffer said. "It is nothing they can ever see coming. She just loves the water."

Pappas credited Stauffer with acting quickly and decisively during the incident.

"There was no hesitation on her part to do what she had to do," he said. "She put herself at risk. She was concerned she might get stuck in the mud herself."

Don't call Stauffer a hero, though.

She prefers police officer.

"Any police officer would do exactly the same thing that I did," Stauffer said. "It feels nice to be able to help somebody. That it ended with a happy ending is great."

Stauffer, an 11-year veteran of the Penn Township police force, has two children of her own.

"I would hope someone would do the same thing for my own child," she said.

Stauffer deflected credit to the resident of the apartment complex who stepped up to report the incident.

"She deserves a pat on the back," Stauffer said. "It was great that she quickly called 911, stayed on the phone with the dispatcher and went to the pond. She did what we hope other people do in that situation."

rrobinson@lnpnews.com