Gary Lawson

Gary J. Lawson and Cody M. McCready rescued a woman from drowning, Guerneville, California, February 25, 2024. The woman, 38, who authorities believe was intoxicated, struggled to swim in the 55-degree water of the Russian River. Lawson, 48, sheriff’s sergeant, responded to the scene, where he removed an overshirt, his duty belt, ballistic vest, and boots before donning an unbuckled life vest. Lawson then entered the water from a riverbank and swam about 75 feet to the woman, who resisted him, submerging Lawson multiple times as they continued floating downriver. Lawson managed to grasp the woman by the shirt while he swam with the woman about 50 feet toward a partially submerged island closer to the opposite bank. Lawson maneuvered himself and the woman to a thicket of exposed tree branches along the island’s submerged riverbank, at which point he reached out, grasped a branch, and stopped their momentum. Meanwhile, McCready, 34, sheriff’s deputy, arrived on the near riverbank and ran along the bank until he saw the sergeant and the woman, at which point McCready entered a shallow but fast-moving channel between the island and the riverbank. McCready, who had removed his overshirt, ballistic vest, and duty belt, left his boots on and did not don a life vest. He waded about 50 feet before he encountered a deep drop-off, at which point he then swam about 25 feet against the current to the sergeant and the woman. Once there, McCready positioned his foot on a branch, then helped to restrain the woman as she continued to frantically scratch and claw with her hands at both the sergeant and McCready. Within minutes, responding firefighters in a rescue boat arrived. The firefighters removed the woman from the water and transported her to a nearby beach, where she was arrested. Firefighters then removed Lawson, who had spent about 25 minutes in the water, and McCready, who had been in the river for about 10 minutes, and took them to emergency personnel on land. Lawson was shivering uncontrollably; he recovered. McCready was cold and tired but otherwise unharmed.

2024-0000059-10492