Deputy saves unconcious man in Lake Villa pond

A Lake County sheriff’s deputy responding to a report of a 911 call raced into a Lake Villa pond Sunday night and saved a 20-year-old man’s life, officials said.

Police said Sheriff’s Deputy Leonard Patterson beat rescue teams to the pond where a 911 caller had reported an unconscious man in the water.

Patterson, who has been with the sheriff’s office for three years, quickly pulled the lifeless 20-year-old man from the water and immediately began chest compressions and CPR, according to police.

By the time rescue crews arrived at the pond on the 3500 block of North Knowles Road in an unincorporated area near Lake Villa, the drowning victim was alert and breathing on his own, police said.

Officials said the man was swimming in the shallow pond just before 8 p.m. when he went underwater and was unresponsive. It is not clear what caused him to nearly drown.

The pond was on the private property of a residence, police said.