Two girls rescued from icy Tinley Park pond - Fox 2 News Headlines

Three police officers rescued two girls who fell through the ice late Thursday afternoon at a retention pond in Tinley Park.

Rescuers raced against the clock to save the girls from the icy waters of the pond, located near the Edgewater Walk condominium complex off Lakewood Drive south of 167th Street.

Cook County Sheriff's Deputy Brian Manthley said he heard screams from his open window and when he looked out, he saw a man trying to give the pre-teen girls a rope.

Manthley says a Tinley Park officer jumped in the water and wrapped a bigger rope around the girls. He, along with the others, were then able to pull the girls to safety.

"There's always kids out there," Manthley says. "They throw rocks on the ice, it makes noise...they're always walking around out there, but sooner or later, I knew somebody was going to go in. Today was the day."

The girls were taken to South Suburban Hospital and are in good condition, according to Pat Carr, Director of Emergency Management and 911 Communications for Tinley Park, who was on the scene. He estimated the girls were in the water for five to 10 minutes, which was said to be nearly 12 feet deep.

Though Manthley says he has yelled a number of times at kids not to play on the ice, he is relieved that this incident had a happy ending.