Nathaniel and Jenna Rhodaberger of Butler Township and their children, Simeon, 8; Silas, 4; Miriam, 2 and Mara, 7 months. Nathaniel Rhodaberger jumped into the Allegheny River in Kittanning to rescue a young suspect who had crashed his car in a police chase and tried to escape to the chilly river.

Nathaniel Rhodaberger was driving his Pennsylvania American Water Co. truck along Johnston Avenue near Kittanning on May 20, checking out the system as usual before beginning the day's tasks.

Suddenly, a car ran the 36-year-old Butler Township man off the road and a state trooper soon whizzed by, hot on the heels of the errant vehicle.

Rhodaberger continued down Johnston Avenue until he saw the trooper, who had pulled over facing the wrong direction on the road, running up the Armstrong Trail along the Allegheny River.

“I asked him if he needed any help and he said, 'Yeah, I have one in the river,'” Rhodaberger recalled.

Rhodaberger abandoned his truck and headed toward the Allegheny River, where he saw the wrecked remains of the car that ran him off the road a short time earlier.

Rhodaberger said that after losing control of his car and crashing, the driver decided to escape the police by swimming across the river.

“As I was running down the hill, I could hear the guy yelling for help,” Rhodaberger said.

After quickly doffing the boots, he leaped into the chilly, rushing water and started swimming as hard as he could.

“So, I swam out and grabbed him,” he said. “He panicked, as any drowning person would, and it took me quite a bit to convince him that I was there to help him.”

Read more in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.