Officers credited with rescuing four boaters in Wading River

A pair of Suffolk County police officers helped a family of boaters from Brentwood who had drifted in the Long Island Sound near Wading River Saturday evening, according to a police press release. 

Three brothers from Brentwood were fishing along with one of the brothers’ girlfriends in a 12-foot inflatable row boat when a southwest wind increased and caused the boat to drift away from the shore about 8:30 p.m. They were able to contact a friend at Shoreham Beach, where they had launched, who notified police through use of the SCPD Spanish language line service that the four boaters could not make it back to shore.

Seventh Precinct, Marine Bureau, and Aviation officers were dispatched to the scene, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, police said.

Officers John Brehm and Terence McGovern of Suffolk Police Marine Delta arrived from Port Jefferson about 8:55 p.m. and began the search for the boat, which had no lights. The cell phone on the boat had also lost power, however, making the search even more challenging, police said.

 Using radar, the officers were able to locate the boaters at about 9:10 p.m. about two miles northeast of Wading River Creek, police said.

There were no injuries reported.