Two fisherman rescued from rising tide off Ft. Salonga

Two fishermen on a jetty got cut off from their vehicle by the rising tide Thursday, then had to be rescued by officers after they tried to swim across a creek, Suffolk police said.

Carlos Jeronimo, 26, and Wilfredo Belc, 27, were fishing off of a jetty at Crab Meadow Beach in Fort Salonga when they noticed just before 2:35 p.m. that the tide had cut off land access to their parked vehicle, police said.

They tried swimming across the creek, but the tidal current swept them up and away into the Long Island Sound, police said.

A witness on the beach called 911, which dispatched marine bureau officers and four Second Precinct officers to help the two men.

“They were up a creek,” said Lt. Raymond Epp of the marine bureau. “They were good enough swimmers that they could tread water before the boat got there.”

Four Second Precinct officers, including one with binoculars, guided marine bureau officers Keith Walters and Cory Kim to the waterlogged pair, who were plucked out about 300 yards from the shore, police said.

The fishermen, both from Jamaica, Queens were taken by the Northport fire department to Huntington Hospital and released after being examined, police said.