{"id":14834,"date":"2017-02-14T17:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T17:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14834"},"modified":"2017-02-14T17:04:29","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T17:04:29","slug":"retired-florida-cops-save-five-from-sinking-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14834","title":{"rendered":"Retired Florida cops save FIVE from sinking boat"},"content":{"rendered":"

(NorhtJersey.com<\/a>) \u2013 Retired Passaic police officers Cheryl and Angel Casabona thought their rescue days were long behind them when they retired\u00a0to Florida this past summer.<\/p>\n

That changed Saturday when\u00a0their 12-year-old son, Jake, overheard a mayday call over the radio while the three were boating off the coast of Naples, Fla.<\/p>\n

It was a man\u2019s voice.\u00a0He \u201csaid his boat was taking on water, and that he was with another male and three children,\u201d Angel\u00a0Casabona said of the distress call in an interview with The\u00a0Record this week.<\/p>\n

The Casabonas continued to listen over the radio as the Coast Guard\u00a0asked a series of routine\u00a0emergency questions, but by the time the question of the boat\u2019s exact location arose, it was too late.<\/p>\n

The troubled boater\u2019s\u00a0final transmission was, \u201cWe\u2019re going in the water,\u201d Casabona said.<\/p>\n

With little to go on but an earlier transmission in which the man\u00a0had described himself as being\u00a0\u201c12 miles west of Naples,\u201d Angel said, he and his wife set off to their aid\u00a0\u2014 hoping that\u00a0they were headed in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re new to the area,\u201d he said. \u201cWe said a quick prayer, I arbitrarily pointed my boat in one direction and, about 6 miles out, I saw the capsized boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Casabonas arrived, they did not see the five passengers. Cheryl\u00a0Casabona\u00a0circled the area until they found them clinging to a floating cooler in the 67-degree water, where they\u2019d been for 35\u00a0to\u00a040 minutes.<\/p>\n

Jake Casabona\u00a0tossed a lifesaver to the boat, and his parents\u00a0pulled the two men and three children\u00a0\u2014 8-year-old triplets \u2014\u00a0aboard, and warmed them up while they awaited\u00a0the arrival of the Coast Guard, the local sheriff\u2019s\u00a0office\u00a0and Marco Island Fire and Rescue. \u201cMy wife put blankets on the children,\u201d Casabona said. \u201cThey were pretty shook up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was grateful\u00a0everyone was OK, particularly the younger three.<\/p>\n