It was nearly a Christmas Day tragedy, but the first responding officer had other ideas.
The drama began when an 8-year-old boy chased a dog onto a frozen pond in New Harmony, Utah, and fell through the ice about 5pm, reports KUTV. Other kids saw what happened and ran to alert adults, and police were soon on the way.
Sgt. Aaron Thompson of the Washington County Sheriff's Office arrived first, and though he had no special gear and a dive team was en route, he "made the personal decision" not to wait, according to a news release cited by Fox 13. Thompson removed his own police gear, entered the pond, and began punching his way through 25 feet of ice.
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