Deputy shares firsthand account of ice rescue at Stansbury Lake


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TOOELE — A sheriff's deputy who saved a man during a weekend ice rescue at Stansbury Lake said he believed the man didn't have much time left, as newly released body camera footage documented the tense moments.

First responders said the man had fallen through the ice as he tried to rescue his dog, which had done the same.

"He was at the end of his time," Jeremy Taubman, a deputy with the Tooele County Sheriff's Office, told KSL-TV. "He started telling himself and us that he was cold. He couldn't move anymore. He couldn't go any further."

Taubman said he had been a part of ice rescues before, knew the gravity of the situation and came ready with a rope for the man who was in the water for roughly 20 minutes.

"(I) grabbed the rope, threw it out there," Taubman said. "Luckily, I was able to get it within arm's reach. He grabbed onto it, and we reeled him in."

Firefighters assessed the man and got him inside his home, where family members slowly warmed him up. They said the dog made it out OK as well.

Jeremy Taubman, with the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office, seen Monday, helped rescue a man who fell through the ice at Stansbury Lake.
Jeremy Taubman, with the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office, seen Monday, helped rescue a man who fell through the ice at Stansbury Lake. (Photo: Stuart Johnson, KSL-TV)

With warm temperatures expected in the days ahead, Taubman was urging people to use extreme caution around frozen lakes and ponds.

He said he believed he and other first responders potentially saved other lives as well by working to get the man out of the lake.

"His friend wanted to go out in the water and tried to save him," Taubman said. "I told him no because that would be two people we'd have to pull out. Other family members may want to go in to try to save him," Taubman said.

"The more people that go out there, the more lives that are at risk, so it was a very fortunate thing, very heartwarming that we were actually able to get him out of the water before anything happened and save his life."

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UtahTooele County
Andrew Adams, KSL-TVAndrew Adams
Andrew Adams is an award-winning journalist and reporter for KSL-TV. For two decades, he's covered a variety of stories for KSL, including major crime, politics and sports.

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