Connecticut Lifeguard Who “Did Not Appear To Be Distracted” Is Still Being Charged For Saving A 5 Year Old’s Life At An Understaffed Camp Outing
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A lifeguard who was on duty at a Connecticut sports complex when a young boy nearly drowned has been charged with reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a child. Police say 23-year-old Zachary Stein, of New Canaan, did not appear to be distracted while working at Chelsea Piers Connecticut in Stamford on Aug. 3, but surveillance video shows he didn’t notice the 5-year-old boy underwater for about four minutes.
“There were kids swimming pretty close to him, but it went unnoticed that he was underwater,” says Lt. Tom Barcello.
Stein then pulled the boy from the water and gave him CPR. Police say the boy was hospitalized and made a rapid recovery. Stein’s lawyer says a mistake does not constitute a crime, especially considering Stein’s role in saving the boy. An American Lifeguard Association representative tells the Stamford Advocate it is rare for a lifeguard to be charged criminally.
As for Stein’s arrest, Chelsea Piers says they are surprised, as he is one of the first responders credited with saving the boy’s life.
This is a joke right? They’re charging a lifeguard who saved a kid’s life for saving the kid’s life? I can understand if he was on his phone or taking a 20 minute dump on the bathroom, but it says right there – he did not appear to be distracted. End of story. Not guilty.
Apparently this was at some sort of summer camp. So why is he the only one taking the fall? Where were all the camp counselors?
It’s pretty obvious what’s going on here. New Canaan is a filthy rich town in one of the most wealthy parts of the country. More than likely the five year old, who luckily is alive today, comes from a family that’s looking for a payday. And likewise Chelsea Piers is probably insured for a shitload of dough. They’re charging him criminally so they can go after him civilly and get a pay day. Never let a near tragedy to your kid go to waste.
It’s just so disgusting and everything that’s wrong with our society that parents go after the guy who saved their child’s life, did nothing wrong, and only was put in this situation since it sounds like the pool was understaffed. Meanwhile whenever you Google Zachary Stein for the rest of his life, this is gonna come up.
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14 Comment(s)
The point of this…..
This hero’s name is going to be stuck to this story for the rest of his life.
Zachary Stein, hero.
Zachary Stein, thank you for doing your job!
Unfortunately, my son will NOT be a lifeguard as a result. (Which I’d hope.)
Thank you Conn.
Where the hell was the guardian of the child. Everywhere on the webpage for this place it says children under the age of 13 must have a guardian on site. I hope the parents become turtle boy famous they deserve it as they are negligent.
In the normal world, there’s no way this criminal charge would stick — no self-respecting DA would even attempt to prosecute the case — and if he did, the case would likely be thrown out by the judge and certainly if it ever reached the jury they would vote overwhelmingly not guilty.
However, we no longer live in the real world. We live in Bizzaro world.
Makes me think the kid who was saved has parents who are somehow a member of a protected class, or politically connected.
Certainly, there could be a tort action against the kid (for non-feasance or misfeasance) but if the kid was an employee then he’d be indemnified by the company’s insurance policy anyway, and courts have been reluctant to “pierce the corporate veil” (so to speak) and allow individuals to be sued as individuals when acting on behalf of the company.
I doubt a tort attorney would even bother to sue the kid — his pockets are not “deep” enough — even if they got a judgement against him, he’d just have it tossed aside with a bankruptcy filing.
So all this leads me back to the same conclusion: the 5 year old is a member of a protected class, or has parents who are politically connected.
My daughter was a lifeguard this summer. Thankfully, her only save was a non-swimmer 5yr old who entered a pool over her head. The pool rules are well defined to the point of being intrusive. The problem: Her parents only spoke Spanish. Just saying.
What kind of a society have we become?
I’m not a lifeguard, but the next time I see someone drowning, I’m just going to leave and pretend I didn’t see it, rather than taking the chance of saving the person and being charged criminally.
I don’t see how they could charge him… unless they later found out he was stoned or something…
That headline gave me a goddamn seizure Jesus Christ…
Free muh boi Zachary!!
New Canaan used to be full of rich people. Are you sure there are any left? Gov Cocksucker Malloy raised taxes and fees so high that the State is $3.5 BILLION in the hole right now. Most rich people are gone, no one is paying taxes. Hartford is screaming bankruptcy because they blew what little money they had on a baseball stadium no one wants to go to because the hood rats break into your car while you are watching the Yardgoats piddle. They’ve even gone after the handicapped folks, charging everyone for parking because apparently 1/6 of the residents have handicap stickers! Democrat inspired fraud. Reap what ye sow.
The only people left in this Socialist shithole are those who cannot leave, those to dumb to leave, those too stubborn to leave or those on the dole (probably a majority of citizens).
This pathetic kid will be hung out to dry for every cent he and his parents have. Best bet for him is to wrap a towel on his head, run to the Canadian border and yell “Allahu Akbar” then he’ll be celebrated as a political refugee.
Ribs are commonly broken when CPR is performed properly, especially on children. Im assuming these people are the type who would also sue for “excessive use of force” in such a situation. The sad part is that they would probably profit off a claim even that ridiculous in this pathetic state. We are doomed.
That’s why child CPR is performed differently than adult CPR, duh.
There is no such thing as child CPR/ adult CPR, it is one process in which the technique may vary depending on the subjects size not age. And regardless of the technique used or the subjects size , broken ribs are still very common if done correctly and with the appropriate amount of force. DUUHHH!!
If people keep this shit up, there will be more more life guards, police, firemen, etcetera; no one will want to be arrested for doing their jobs.
No more****, not more more. Fucking autocorrect needs to die.