Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/MacNeil-Park-Boat-Launch-102825-7f167b41aa5d4a65a0fcaa22149489e3.jpg)
NEED TO KNOW
- A retired NYPD officer rescued a 30-year-old woman and a child from the East River on October 26
- Paul Pinsdorf allegedly pulled the woman out of the water at Hermon A. MacNeil Park in the College Point neighborhood of Queens, NY
- Fei Fei Gao, 30, has been charged with attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child
A retired New York Police Department officer rescued a mother and her child from a river in a Queens park on October 26.
Retired NYPD officer Paul Pinsdorf reportedly heard screams and saw a woman walking into the East River with her baby. The incident occurred at Hermon A. MacNeil Park in the College Point neighborhood of Queens, NY, CBS New York reported.
“She was crying, holding it, going deeper and deeper into the water,” Pinsdorf told the news agency. “She’s saying incoherent things, so I couldn’t really understand,” continued the retired officer, who was nearby and volunteered for a Halloween event.
Pinsdorf also claimed that the woman “didn’t want to come back” and that the child was almost underwater when he went in after them.
The 30-year-old woman is said to have waded chest deep into the water with her five-month-old baby in her arms, according to New York Post. The woman was transported to North Shore University Hospital for treatment, while the infant was taken to New York Presbyterian, the NYPD confirmed to the outlet.
A representative for the NYPD confirmed to PEOPLE and CBS New York that the woman, identified as 30-year-old Fei Fei Gao of Queens, was charged with attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child. She was arrested after she was examined at the hospital.
Google Earth
“If Paul didn’t get here when he got there, I don’t know what the outcome would have been,” retired NYPD officer Kevin O’Donnell told CBS New York.
O’Donnell, who happened to be at the park with Pinsdorf, once headed the community affairs bureau at the NYPD’s 109th Precinct in Queens, per New York Post.
Never miss a story – sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to keep you updated on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“The woman was stressed about something,” Brock Weiner, who is also a retired NYPD officer, told CBS New York. “She fought him, but she wouldn’t let go of the child.”
