Lincoln mayor honors LPD sergeant for saving woman from frigid pond

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird gave out the Award of Excellence at Monday’s Lincoln City Council meeting.

Sgt. Tu Tran from the Lincoln Police Department received the award for the heroism he displayed in February.

On an icy and frigid evening, Tran heard a rescue alarm call on his radio. He wasn’t dispatched but immediately went to the area of 14th Street and Yankee Hill Road and found a sinking car in a pond.

A woman was trapped inside the vehicle, and Tran didn’t hesitate to jump into the water.

“It was cold,” he said. “It was completely submerged at this point. And I began reaching for things inside and, again, miraculously, I grabbed onto someone’s leg.”

The woman grabbed his hand, and he pulled her out and took her to the shore, about 50 feet away.

“Several bystanders pulled us up,” he said.

This wasn’t the first time he saved someone after their vehicle ended up in water.

Six months before, he saved a man after his truck ended up in a pond.

Tran said he used that experience to help him the second time, but he never had any prior training on water rescues.

With the award, he receives one extra paid day off and a $50 gift certificate.