MIPD officers help rescue man who fell through ice at Fish Lake

Published 2:30 pm Thursday, February 5, 2026

Four Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) Marine Patrol Unit members utilized their ice rescue training by helping save a man who fell through the ice at Fish Lake in Chelan County on the afternoon of Feb. 3.

After the locals and members of the King County Sheriff’s Office Marine Rescue Dive Unit — who were wrapping up their annual one-day training — witnessed the man plummet into the ice and then hold himself up in the 35-degree water, the entire 20-person crew sprang into rescue mode, according to MIPD sergeant David Herzog.

“Just out of nowhere, he fell through the ice. He was pulling a wagon behind him that actually fell in the ice and sank to the bottom. The guy didn’t say a word,” Herzog said of the approximately 25-year-old man who wasn’t wearing a life jacket or dressed for extreme cold weather conditions.

“It just worked out that we were all up to speed on our training.”

To begin the rescue, two King County officers crawled on their stomachs across the thin ice toward the man with one rescuer fastened to a line and carrying a swimming pool noodle. Then, with 300 feet of line tied to a sled that MIPD officer Shannon Johnson slid to the ice break location, they strapped the man into the sled and he was pulled to the dock by a team of officers.

Herzog further explained the details of the elaborate rescue during which he pulled lines: “We had a system of people staged on the docks for pulling and then people staged on the ice to supply lines and ropes to get the person out. Plus, while we’re doing this rescue, we have other members of the public that are walking our direction trying to leave the ice.”

After the officers transported the man to the dock and situated him in a warm cabin, he said he was fine and then left the scene on his own. Herzog estimates that the man was in the water for about 10 to 15 minutes.

“He had two friends that were with him. Luckily, they did not see him fall in the ice because if they would have gone over to him to try to rescue him, we would have had three people that fell through the ice,” Herzog said of the ice fishermen.

Other MIPD members who were involved in the rescue by bringing out lines were corporal Kelly Robinson and officer Jordan Tranter. All four MIPD Marine Patrol Unit members who attended the ice rescue training are part of a seven-person diving crew when they work off Mercer Island. Herzog is the only permanent marine patroller and the others engage in typical police work when they’re not working with the marine unit.

Herzog, who engaged in ice diving during training at Fish Lake, said all the officers knew what their roles were during the rescue and things went smooth and fast in a dangerous situation.

The yearly training consists of officers cutting holes through the ice, descending into the ice and practicing self-rescuing as if someone were to fall into the ice. In the diving realm, officers plunge through one hole, rescue a mannequin and bring it up through another hole.

“Fortunately, we were able to put (the training) into play because if we weren’t there, he would have drowned,” said Herzog, adding that they can utilize the training on Mercer Island if a similar situation were to arise at a frozen Ellis Pond or lake.