Good Samaritan helps save family on Lake Tahoe during quick-moving storm

MARLA BAY, Nev. - One man is lucky to be alive tonight after jumping into Lake Tahoe to save a nine-year-old boy who had drifted away from a pontoon charter boat on Monday.

A family reunion was being celebrated on the two-level pontoon boat equipped with a slide. An afternoon storm came up quickly on the lake, creating three-to-four foot waves. Just as the waves came, the boat ran out of gas. A nine-year-old on the boat with a life jacket on was sliding into the lake but the boat drifted away and stranded him. Two male adults on the boat jumped in to get to the boy, but they did not have life jackets on.

One of the men started to struggle as he neared the boy. The other man, the boy'a father, was able to paddle and stay afloat with his son.

The family still on board called 911 about 3:37 p.m. and grabbed a white towel and tried to get the attention of other boaters. There was no marine radio on board said Tahoe Douglas Fire Marshal Eric Guevin.

One of those boats was being piloted by Rex Righetti with his mom Hope and two of her friends on board. Being a long-time local family and avid water skiers, Rex was able to bring the boat right next to the boy and pull him in by his life jacket. Another boat came to the area as well, but Righetti already had the boy in, the boy's dad swam in and the other man in distress was assisted.

The pontoon was filled with gas and brought the rest of the family to shore.

Tahoe Douglas Marine 24 arrived at the scene just as everything was happening in Marla Bay

"He's lucky to be alive, he was near drowning," said Guevin of the unidentified man who was hypothermic and transported to Barton where he is being held overnight for observation.

"When we went out it was like water skiing weather and the water was perfectly flat," said Rex. "When we got to Camp Richardson we turned on the radio and heard the flash flood and weather report and headed back."

By the time they got back to Marla Bay the waves were "huge."

"It was fortunate timing in a bad situation," said Rex who happened to be in the right place at the right time. "At first it looked like the family was celebrating with the towel." The Righetti group got close enough to hear that three swimmers were in the water about 200 meters away and they went into action.

"People said they'd never seen the lake the way it was," said Guevin.