The deputy jumped into a pond to save the boy.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY – A deputy saved an autistic boy, 9, from drowning Tuesday (Oct. 10), the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office said.

The boy, Zachary Durante, 9, of Apollo Beach, is safe and has been reunited with his family.

Deputies were called to the area of Apollo Beach Boulevard and Dickman Drive about 4:31 p.m. to help search for a missing/endangered autistic child. Zachary had walked away from home through an unlocked front door.

Deputies were searching the area and a Safety Net page had been opened, when Deputy Efrain Taveras, 52, saw Zachary in a nearby retention pond. Taveras jumped into the pond, in full uniform, and pulled Zachary, who does not know how to swim, to safety. Taveras is a 12-year department veteran.

For information about the Hillsborough sheriff, go to hcso.tampa.fl.us.

Photo shows Taveras after he got out of the pond. Courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Hillsborough Sheriff | Deputy Saves Child | Apollo Beach | Efrain Taveras | Tampa Bay News | TB Reporter

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