Why a Columbus man called 911 after seeing kids playing on icy pond
COLUMBUS, Ind. (WISH) — A man called 911 after seeing several kids playing in the middle of an icy retention pond in Columbus, and now police are warning kids to stay off the ice to prevent a deadly outcome.
The man told 24-Hour News 8 those kids may not be his own kids, but he felt he had a responsibility as a human being to protect them.
He said what he saw brought back a lot of memories of a tragedy that happened on Terrace Lake back in 2010 when three teens fell through the ice and one of them died.
“I hope that nobody falls,” said Jayson Oresik in a 911 call. “Man one of the kids fall through there they’re dead.”
In the 911 call you can hear the voice of Jayson Oresik. He was driving home last week when he saw four kids playing on the surface of this retention pond.
It happened in the Shadow Creek subdivision in Columbus.
“I was driving down around the edge of this pond here and I witnessed some neighborhood kids with their bicycle down here on the ice, and they were actually out on the surface of the pond,” he said. “They were picking up big pieces of riprap they had pulled from the side of the pond and throwing them down on the ice as they were standing on the ice.”
Orseik said he could see through the ice.
“My first reaction was ‘where are these kids parents’ and ‘why is nobody talking to these kids and try to keep them from doing this,’” he said.
Orseik is a father of a 14-year-old daughter and feared for the worst, so he drove around the corner to dial 911.
“They were like in the middle of the pond and I’m like, ‘oh, my God,’” he said in the 911 call.
The dispatcher was afraid officers wouldn’t get there in time so she asked Oresik if he was willing to go back to the pond to tell them to get off.
“Yeah, they’re still out on the ice,” he said.
Dispatch told him, “Tell them to get off the ice tell them police said so.”
Oresik said the kids, believed to be ages 12 and 13, listened to him.
“Once I said ‘police’ and ‘on their way,’ they didn’t seem to want to stick around any longer. You know, I think they did get the gist of the message,” he said. “One of the kids told me he knew one of the kids who had fallen through the ice a few years ago, which really struck me as odd, as why you would be out doing it.”
Police are warning kids who are still on the winter break from schools in Columbus to stay off the ice.
“Here in Columbus, we have a number of these types of ponds within our community. You know, it’s impossible to gauge the thickness of the ice just by looking at it,” said Lt. Matt Harris of the Columbus Police Department.
Oresik said he just hopes education and awareness will be enough to prevent another tragedy.
“I think it’s our responsibility as adults; even if you’re not a parent, it’s just your responsibility as a human being to educate these people younger than you what you’re doing is not necessarily safe,” he said.
Oresik said his first thought was to go out and talk to the kids himself, but he felt he needed to call 911 to have emergency responders there just in case something did happen.
Police said officers got there and talked with the kids about the dangers of being on the ice.