Glendale (Wisconsin) police officers Robert M. Wilson, Jr., center, and Andrew Reischl, right, pose with the Carnegie Medal with police Chief Mark Ferguson, who presented the medals to them during morning roll call on Jan. 10.
Wilson and Reischl entered the dangerously cold Milwaukee River on April 10, 2022, to rescue an unresponsive driver, 46, of an SUV that had entered the river and submerged in water 9 feet deep. Wilson, 32, arrived at the scene first and swam about 100 feet to the SUV, peering through its sunroof, but he could not see anyone inside. He swam back to the bank, and when Reischl, 34, arrived with a window-breaking tool, and they swam to the SUV again. Seeing that the driver’s window was partially down, Reischl kicked at it until it lowered completely. Holding to the car’s roof cargo bar, Reischl reached inside the car and cut the man’s seat belt. Submerging, Reischl pulled on the man until he was through the window. Wilson and Reischl then swam the man back to the bank, where other officers helped them out of the water. The man was taken to the hospital and survived. Wilson and Reischl were also checked out at a hospital and recovered.
“We are very appreciative of the Carnegie foundation recognizing the actions of our officers,” Ferguson told the Hero Fund.