San Diego cop rescues 2-year-old twin girls and their dad who drove off cliff in attempted murder-suicide
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Two twin girls and their father were rescued by a police officer after the father drove his car off a San Diego cliffside in an attempted murder-suicide. The two girls were in intensive care while the father was jailed without bail on Monday on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder, said reports.
The horrific incident took place on Saturday, June 13, at Sunset Cliffs in the south area of the Californian city. The two girls were found sitting on their father's lap when he made the decision to drive the car off the cliff. A call had been placed, which suggested that the father was about to drive off from the Colorado Bridge, from where law enforcement managed to track his phone to the cliff.
K-9 officer Jonathan Wiese from the San Diego Police Department saw the trunk land on its roof. While speaking to the San Diego Tribune, Wiese recalled, "Literally, my heart sank. Please tell me the girls were not in the car."
The girls could have easily died had they been sitting in the back seat. According to the Daily Mail, Wiese said, "I could see him and he had one of the girls in his arms, and I have a two-year-old daughter at home so I imagined, what if that was my wife and kid down there? You're not going to stand there on the cliff and watch it happen."
He recalled trying to think of a way to get down the cliff and remembered he had a 100ft leash with him. He gave one end of the rope to five other cops who had arrived at the scene and jumped over the edge to help out. Wiese shared, "I said, 'Hey, hang on. I'm going."
He was then lowered down to the rocks and ocean below and swam as fast as he could towards the father who had the children in his arms. The rescue was hard given the waves coming to the shore but Wiese who had served in the Marine Corps was able to manage.
He revealed, "They taught you how to do water safety rescues and I had a little flashback of okay grab him under the armpit and push him so I swam and held them above water and brought them to shore." One of the girls was found breathing while the other was limp.
Wiese's fellow officers then lowered a backpack down and hoisted the girls up to be taken to hospital. Both the girls are in intensive care but are expected to make a full recovery. Wiese called and said, "That's the best news you can have."
"All I care about is that those girls are going to live and have a second chance at life," Wiese added. He also had the time to speak with the father while they were waiting for a rescue helicopter and had decided not to leave him alone in case he decided to try to commit suicide again.
The father told Wiese that 'he was going to die and the girls were coming with him.'" SDPD Police Chief David Nisleit said it was Wiese's heroic actions that saved the two girls, adding, "That's probably the most heroic thing I've seen in my 32 years."
Wiese spoke to KGTV and said, "I didn't do the job to be liked every day, I didn't do it to become rich, I did it because I want to be out there making a difference and helping people, as cliche as that might sound, but I was just glad I could be there. You just do what you have to do, but after everyone was safe, it hits you and you just want to go home and hug your kids that's for sure." A GoFundMe page has been started for the twin girls.