Jenna Carlesso
The Hartford Courant
January 6, 2010

STAFFORD - A state police trooper rescued a 62-year-old local man who fell through the ice behind an East Main Street home early Wednesday.

A resident of the home called officers after hearing someone shout for help about 1 a.m.  When trooper Timothy Begley arrived, he spotted a man waist-deep in a large stream.  The man wore pajamas and a robe and appeared disoriented, State Police Sgt. Thomas Duncan said.

"He was very confused and not talking coherently," he said.

Begley went down a steep embankment and into the freezing water to pull the man out.  Emergency personnel took the man, who was not identified, to Hartford Hospital to be treated for hypothermia.  Police said they do not know why he was walking on the frozen stream.

"It was an unusual rescue because the water was so cold," Duncan said.

The man is expected to make a full recovery.