DELTONA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff's deputy ran through the woods, ripped off his bulletproof vest and ran into a pond after hearing the cries of a missing 5-year-old autistic boy.
Volusia County Sheriff's Deputy Wes Brough scooped the boy up, and the child wrapped his arms tightly around Brough's neck as they trudged back to dry land on Tuesday evening in Deltona, which is near Daytona Beach on Florida's Atlantic Coast.
“I thanked God a lot for putting me in that position one, and two for allowing that kid to be above water and breathing fine when we got there,” Brough said. “That’s all glory to God for putting me in the right place at the right time.”
Deputies had responded to a call of a missing child around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The father told deputies the child had escaped through a second-story door, which set off an alarm, according to an account of the incident posted on the sheriff's Facebook page.
The family and neighbors began searching. Someone called 911.
Brough and several other deputies headed toward a nearby pond, after hearing that the child was attracted to water, the report said.
About 7:48 p.m., Brough heard the boy's voice and spotted him holding onto a log in the water.
Sheriff's officials said the boy's family had taken several measures to secure the home, including having an alarm on that door. That's what alerted them that the child had left the house.
Brough attributed the training they received, including Autism Awareness Training, for preparing him to be ready for any situation. The rescue was captured by the deputy's body cam.
“I have three children of my own, one being a 5-year-old,” Brough said. “So to have him hold on to me tightly like that, it felt like it was my own kid holding on to me.”
In this image made from a video made from a Volusia County Sheriff's Department bodycam, Deputy Wes Brough saves a missing 5-year-old autistic boy from a pond Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Deltona, Fla. (Volusia County Sheriff's Department via AP)
In this image made from a video made from a Volusia County Sheriff's Department bodycam, Deputy Wes Brough saves a missing 5-year-old autistic boy from a pond Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Deltona, Fla. (Volusia County Sheriff's Department via AP)
In this image made from a video made from a Volusia County Sheriff's Department bodycam, Deputy Wes Brough saves a missing 5-year-old autistic boy from a pond Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Deltona, Fla. (Volusia County Sheriff's Department via AP)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.
The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.
The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”
“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.
The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.
Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.
Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.
Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.
Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.
Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.
The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.
FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
