BODY CAM VIDEO: Man rescued from storm drain during flash flood

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - A young man had to be rescued from the Mississippi River Wednesday evening after his urban exploring mission was cut short by rising waters.

According to Minneapolis police, the man was with a friend inside a large culvert when the storm hit. 

“Before they knew it there was so much water flowing through there. They were in distress,” Hennepin County paramedic Chad Durant said. 

While one of the men made it to safety and called 911, first responders say the man stuck in the water was buying time.

Durant, along with Minneapolis police officers Craig Brown and Molly Trupe, decided they did not have enough time to wait for the fire department and Hennepin County water rescue, so they improvised.

“We knew we couldn’t wait for any more people, that we needed to do something right away,” Trupe said. 

Brown said the call was not anything they plan for in the academy, instead they relied on instinct. Both Brown and Trupe have only been on the police force for one year.

“His life is on the line, he’s got a rope tied to him, I’m just going to pull the rope as hard as I can,” Brown said.

Officials say they do not plan to charge the man or his friend.