An off-duty Evanston police officer saved a young boy's life Tuesday -- and it's not the first time he's been deemed a hero.
Officer Sean O'Brien was running errands in the northwest suburbs with his girlfriend during Tuesday's storm when he saw a boy jump into the Des Plaines River. O'Brien leapt in after the boy and got him out of the water while O'Brien's girlfriend called police.
"I don't know if he didn't realize there was a body of water there," O'Brien said of the boy.
The 7-year-old boy was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and was in good condition after the rescue.
"I am happy that noting worse happened," O'Brien said.
The boy's mother told the Chicago Tribune he was playing at the family's home with his grandmother when he took off. O'Brien first saw the boy running through the street and followed him in his car to the river.
This isn't the officer's first big save.
O'Brien received the police department's medal of valor in 2009 for saving a fellow officer from a burning car wreck.
