New York man tries to drown his two children on Connecticut Beach: police

A man from New York is said to have tried to drown his two young children on a beach in Connecticut on Saturday. Only a group of heroic police officers could stop him, finding the children in the water in time.

Romney Desronvil, 41, of Queens, was arrested in West Haven and charged with attempted murder after he was caught attempting a “heinous act,” West Haven police said in a news release.

At about 2:30 a.m., an officer was on patrol in the area of ​​Ocean and Dawson avenues when he noticed a Nissan SUV parked on the beach and heard “loud screams” coming from the ocean, police said.

The officer approached and saw a man and two small children in the water. As the officer waded into the ocean to help Desronvil, he took the children further out to sea and yelled at the officers to “stay back.”

“At this point, it was obvious that the man … intentionally drowned his children,” police said.

The emergency services immediately jumped into the water to reach the Desronvil and the children, who were about 100 meters offshore. Additional emergency services and firefighters entered the water with a fireboat.

The first officer to arrive rescued both children and others helped him bring them back to shore using a human chain.

The children, who are younger than three years old, are in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, but their conditions are improving, the New Haven Register reported.

West Haven Police Chief Joseph Perno told reporters at a news conference that the children’s mother had been in New York on Friday night but arrived in New Haven on Saturday afternoon.

The police and firefighters who responded to the incident were given time off to recover physically and mentally, he said. Three officers were treated for minor injuries.

West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer told reporters at a news conference Saturday that the two police officers who first arrived at the scene were the children’s “guardian angels.”

According to The Register, West Shore Fire Chief Stephen Scafariello became emotional as he described the harrowing scene and its impact on responders.

“We all took this job to help people,” he said. “Seeing a helpless child is very moving for all of us.”

About 22 minutes passed between the emergency call to the fire department and the children’s arrival at the hospital.

Desronvil is accused of two counts of attempted murder and two counts of endangering persons.