Tulsa Police: Budget Cuts Impede River Rescue

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Budget cuts impede a rescue along the Arkansas River.

Tulsa Police say two 17-year-old boys were off-roading Monday night in a hummer along the river bank, when the water quickly rose and they were trapped. 

The current carried the vehicle about a quarter of a mile downstream, while the passengers waited to be rescued. 

The Tulsa Police Department's helicopter was grounded because of budget cuts, so they say without that resource for an air rescue and other equipment problems, getting the boys back on dry land took longer than expected.

"The fire department has the swift water rescue boats, but due to the sand bars along the river, they were not able to deploy that resource," said Officer Jennifer Tate, Tulsa Police. "It was very frustrating for us. Obviously we wanted to immediately act on it, but we didn't have the equipment to do that."

10/29/2009  Related Story: Tulsa Police's Air Support Unit Grounded By Cutbacks

The first officer on the scene actually ran down the riverbank to keep an eye on the vehicle in the dark.

Officers say the rescue took about two hours.

Both boys were not hurt and are back home.

 12/21/2009  Related Story: Tulsa Budget Cuts: Across The Board or Prioritized