A 47 Year Old Brooklyn man drowned off of Croton Point this past Tuesday.

At 10:55 on a somewhat hot, sunny morning, the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department was called to Croton Point Park for a possible drowning. Conflicting reports couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the incident in the park originally, and the original response assignment was based on information the subject may have been out of the water already. The initial assignment was Rescue 18 with Marine 52, Engine 119, Engine 120, Utility 14 with Marine 32 and Deputy Chiefs 2084 (G. Munson), 2087 (R. Nagle) and 2089 (J. Munson). While responding, 60 Control reported the caller stated the subject was swept out by the stronger current of the Hudson River, so the Yorktown Heights FD Dive/Water Rescue Team was placed on standby and Fire Boats from Croton (Marine 12) and Verplanck (Marine 1) were dispatched. Westchester County and Ossining Police were also on the way with their boats.

Upon the arrival of CFD units, it was confirmed one male was pulled into the water and did not
resurface. At this point the YHFD Dive/Water Rescue Team was dispatched to the scene, and Car 2089 established “Croton Point Command.” Marine 12 launched from the Croton Yacht Club, while Marine 32, with the help of E119 & U14, launched from the Echo Canoe Launch under the direction of Car 2085 (DC Dominello). R18 & E120 came directly to Teller's Point to begin deploying resources to the shore and support Dive Team efforts.

Using our M12 and M32, as well as M1 from VFD, 2 Boats & a helicopter from Westchester County Police, an Ossining PD boat, a Croton PD boat and M55 from YHFD, an extensive search commenced. Under the recommendation of YHFD Dive Team, an additional Dive Team from Mahopac Falls FD was called to the scene. Working together, an area of about 600’ x 600’ was grid searched from the surface as well as underwater using divers from YHFD and MFFD.

Providing coverage in Croton during this hours long operation was Ossining FD Engine 97, Briarcliff FD EMS 53B2, Peekskill EMS 75B1 & Cortlandt Paramedics 35M2.

At the decision of WCPD the search was called off for the day around 5:30 PM. The County Police were keeping a boat in the area overnight to continue searching using Sonar. Additional units are expected to return to the area tomorrow. On Friday afternoon, Westchester County Police reported the subject had been located in the water, not far from where he drowned on Tuesday.

Our thanks to all of the units and personnel on scene that provided assistance, as well as a note of gratitude to those that covered our station. The COHFD also extends our condolences to the family & friends of the man, who has been identified as Alex DeSouza.

As a reminder to all of our viewers, we do not recommend anyone ever attempts to swim in any area not designated as a swimming area in the Croton community. Many lives have been lost over the years from this practice, and we don’t want to see it happen again.