Caught on camera: Norristown police officer pulls father, daughter from Schuylkill River

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - The Norristown Police Department stepped up on Labor Day with a lifeguard style rescue on the Schuylkill River, all captured on their body-worn cameras.

Like Superman without a phone booth to change in.

Norristown police officer, Ed Butterworth, quickly took off his heavy-duty belt, gun, and bullet-proof vest, after a father accidentally drove his truck, with his 12-year-old daughter, into the river Monday.

Officer Butterworth is an avid swimmer, spending weekends at the shore, mostly on and in the water, jet skiing and boating.

Monday, fellow officers were on shore helping and hollering to the dad and daughter to hang on.

"As soon as they went in, there was no thought, but I have to do something," Officer Butterworth stated.

Officer Matt Walsh explained, "The truck had gone in to the river in front of me. She tried to dive out the driver’s side window. The truck did go fully underwater. We know that current is faster than it looks. Most people don’t know what that current can do."

"When I got there, she was in the back of the truck screaming," Officer Butterworth explained. "Yelling, crying. Not much communicating, just seeing the panic and fear she had. She can’t swim. I was telling her to hold on to the tailgate. She falls right into the water."

Officer Butterworth continued, "Boom! I go in. I couldn’t find him, he’s under the water. I’m calmly asking her, ‘Where is he, where is he?’ He pops up. So she was holding him down, so she can breathe, which is, I think, just normal for anyone who was panicking like people do when near drowning. I grabbed his shirt. I was pulling both of them, swimming backwards. It was a lot."

"I was very confident when I went in, not realizing the actual dangers itself. When I got out there, no safety equipment on nothing," Officer Butterworth added. "It could’ve been a disaster for all three of us."

"Nobody was injured in this. It was just a heroic, selfless act that Officer Butterworth did," Acting Norristown Police Chief, Mike Bishop, said. "Tomorrow is his 15th anniversary with Norristown police, so it’s a fitting way to thank him and see what a great job he did."