A Man Was Arrested at Connecticut Beach on Charges That He Tried to Drown His Two Young Children
This past weekend, a man from New York was caught on charges that he tried to drown his two children on a beach in Connecticut.
On Saturday, June 22, the West Haven Police Department said on social media that an officer saw a Nissan SUV parked on a beach and “heard significant screaming taking place from the water” at 2:31 a.m.
The police officer went to the screams and saw a guy and two small children in the water. The man started to “drift further away with the children while screaming at the responding officers to ‘ stay back,'” the West Haven Police said.
“Deliberately drowning his children,” police said of the man, who was later named as Romney Desronvil, 41, of Queens.
“Officers jumped into the water right away, and they were only about 100 yards from shore at this point.” Other officers on the scene joined members of the West land Fire Department and got into the water using the West Shore Fireboat, the police department said. They also said that with the help of others, the first officer was able to “gain possession” of the kids and get them to land.
Police then took “life-saving measures” and took the kids to a nearby hospital.
According to a news conference held on Saturday, Police Chief Joseph Perno said that Desronvil would likely be charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of risk of injury. The event is still being looked into.
“It is without a doubt the swift response by our patrol officers saved the lives of these children,” the agency said. “The communication and collaborative efforts made by the West Shore Fire Department and eventually the New Haven Police Department allowed for immediate medical aid and also the apprehension of Desronvil.”
At the news conference that CT Insider showed, West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer praised “the brave work of our officers” for what they did.
“These two children, they had guardian angels this morning, and the names of their guardian angels were Officer Williamson and Officer Miller,” she said. She called their efforts “truly remarkable.”
The mayor told the New Haven Register that the kids seemed to be getting better, and Chief Perno said that both of them were younger than 3 years old. It was also said that Perno told them that their mother was in New York at the time of the alleged attempt to drown and would get to New Haven by Saturday afternoon.
At the news conference, West Shore Fire Chief Stephen Scafariello said that firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics “went to work immediately” on the kids as soon as they got there. He said it took 22 minutes from when the kids were sent to the hospital to when they got care there.
“I would like to personally commend our firefighters who transported both patients in our rescue truck,” he said. “They provided care to the highest level.”