A New York man allegedly tried to drown his two young children at a Connecticut beach on Saturday — and was only stopped by a group of hero police officers who got to the kids in the water in time.
Queens native Romney Desronvil, 41, was busted in West Haven and charged with attempted murder after he was caught in the middle of attempting a “heinous act,” West Haven police said in a release.
An officer was on patrol in the area of Ocean and Dawson Avenues around 2:30 a.m. when he observed a Nissan SUV parked on the beach and heard “significant screaming” coming from the ocean, police said.
The officer approached and saw a man and two small children in the water. When the cop waded in the ocean to help Desronvil took the kids farther out to sea and screamed at the officers to “stay back.”
“It was obvious at this point that the male… was deliberately drowning his children,” police said.
Responding officers immediately jumped in the water to reach Desronvil and the children, who were about 100 yards offshore. Other officers and firefighters entered the water with a fire boat.
The initial arriving officer retrieved both children, and others helped him bring them back to shore using a human chain.
The children, who are under 3 years old, are at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital in critical condition in the intensive care unit but are improving, the New Haven Register reported.
West Haven Police Chief Joseph Perno told reporters at a press conference that the children’s mother was in New York on Friday night but arrived in New Haven by Saturday afternoon.
The responding cops and firefighters have been given time off to recover physically and emotionally, he said. Three police officers were treated for minor injuries.
West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer told reporters at a press conference on Saturday that the two officers who initially responded to the scene were the children’s “guardian angels.”
West Shore Fire Chief Stephen Scafariello became emotional recounting the harrowing scene and its impact on the responders, according to The Register,
“We all took this job to help people,” he said. “To see a helpless child, it really hits home for all of us.”
Roughly 22 minutes passed between when the fire department received the call and when the children arrived at the hospital.
Desronvil is charged with 2 counts each of attempted homicide and risk of injury.