While the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office might not be providing law enforcement patrol services to Lathrop any longer, their history with the growing city might have prevented a drowning last week.

According to the agency, an 11-year-old boy with autism that was non-verbal was reported missing. Because the child had wandered away from his home in the past, Lathrop Police Services were familiar with the young man and began searching for him immediately.

As deputies were searching the community another resident called dispatch to report a male juvenile that had jumped into the manmade lake in River Islands near The Boathouse and was up to his neck in the water. Deputies promptly arrived, and since they didn’t know how long the boy was going to be able to stay above water, deputies Silva and Lewis dropped their gear and jumped into the water to help usher the boy to safety.

While he was only about 20 feet from the shoreline, the deputies quickly realized that the water was much deeper than expected and had to swim out to help bring the boy back to shallow water.

After being checked out by paramedics, the juvenile was released to his parents.

For more than three decades the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office provided law enforcement services to the City of Lathrop – employing a community-oriented policing model throughout its tenure to build relationships with the community that they served.

Current San Joaquin County Sheriff Pat Withrow spent a large portion of his law enforcement career assigned to Lathrop.

Perhaps coincidentally, the social media post from the agency announcing the favorable outcome last week came just the new Lathrop Police Department began patrol operations for the first time.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.