Two Toddlers Adrift on Float in Peconic Bay Rescued

Two toddlers playing on a pool float at Meschutt Beach County Park in Hampton Bays drifted away into the Peconic Bay Monday evening, but were quickly rescued by Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs.

At about 5:40 p.m., the deputies, assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Marine Bureau, received a radio call from the U.S. Coast Guard that a raft was adrift with the children — ages 2 and 3 — on board, just west of the Shinnecock Canal in Hampton Bays.

Deputy Sheriff Thomas Lyons and Deputy Sheriff Joseph Gallo arrived on scene with Marine 1 at about 5:45 p.m. They met up with a Southampton Town Bay Constable Chris Fraser who was with the children’s grandmother, Claudia Meza of Hampton Bays. Meza said she tried to swim after the children when what the Sheriff’s office described a small pool raft, floated away from the shore, but could not catch up to it.