Denver firefighters — a water rescue crew — and police retrieved a man Thursday afternoon who was in the South Platte River near Florida Avenue armed with a knife.
Police were called to the area at about 3:10 p.m. by a passer-by who requested a welfare check on the man, said Raquel Lopez, a Denver police spokeswoman.
When officers arrived, the man, who was armed, jumped into the lazy, cool river to avoid officers.
Officers contacted the water rescue team, and at 4:45 p.m. emergency workers lined the bank of the river between East Florida and East Mississippi avenues. A small team near the man, on the bank, tried to coax him out of the water.
The man was holding on to a flotation device, on a tether to rescuers, but seemed in no hurry to get out of the water. He stabbed the floatation device with the knife several times.
At one point, the knife stuck into the device, and the float was quickly yanked away, disarming the man. A moment later, at about 5 p.m., several water rescue members jumped into the river and grabbed the man as he tried to swim away.
He was pulled to shore and turned over to paramedics.
The man was near where crews have been recovering possible stolen vehicles.
The man, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
