In honor of fallen Officer Robert Garten, Hartford police release video of rescue he took part in
Out of respect for fallen Hartford police Officer Robert “Bobby” Garten, the Police Department Friday released body camera footage from an incident last month in which three women were rescued from the Connecticut River after the personal watercraft they were on capsized during the Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival.
Garten, 34, an eight-year veteran of the department, was killed Wednesday night when the police cruiser he was riding in was struck by a car operated by an 18-year-old who police say fled a traffic stop and ran multiple red lights before hitting a cruiser with its lights and sirens activated on its way to an unrelated call for service.
In the video released Friday three women wearing life jackets were helped aboard a rescue boat by Garten, a member of the Police Marine Division and Dive Team who was on duty during the festival on Aug. 19.
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Investigators learned that the jet ski the women were on had capsized and they had drifted about 3,000 feet in the river while waiting for rescue, police said in a statement.
Garten and a detective responded to a radioed distress call from staff at Riverfront Recapture – the hosts of the festival – about 3:15 p.m., indicating that women who were on a jet ski were in need of help near Riverside Park, police said.
Police spotted the women floating in the river just north of the Bulkeley Bridge next to a partially sunken jet ski and were able to safely pull them from the water and get them onto the police boat.
In the video from Garten’s body worn camera, Garten can be heard asking the women if they are OK while they are in the water.
“Kind of,” one of them responded. Garten threw a rope to the women, calmly reassured them that they would be OK and helped them each aboard the boat.
Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert said the video “illustrates Officer Garten’s professionalism.”
Fallen Hartford officer remembered for his smile, someone who was ‘always laughing’
Once aboard the rescue boat, the women were taken to shore where they were evaluated by paramedics. None of the women were injured, police said.
Investigators determined that the personal watercraft had capsized north of the Connecticut Southern Railroad Bridge. The jet ski was taken out of the river and brought to the Riverside Park boat launch to be salvaged, police said.
