Police chopper helps rescue man from icy Ohio river

COLUMBUS (AP) — A police helicopter pilot is drawing praise for helping to rescue a man who fell into an icy central Ohio river.

Columbus Officer Jeff Ferguson and co-pilot Jim Cox were training nearby when the call came in Wednesday about a man struggling in the Scioto River.

Ferguson responded and lowered the aircraft so that the man clinging to a shelf of ice could grab on to the skid and be moved closer to shore.

From there, other officers threw the man a line and pulled him to safety.

Police say the man had been fishing and might have drowned without the helicopter team’s help.

He was taken to a hospital.