On Friday, October 22nd, at approximately 5:44 PM, members of the Smithtown Department of Public Safety Communications Division received word of a man overboard, clinging to a channel marker in the Nissequogue River in front of the Kings Park Bluff Town Boat Ramp. Dispatchers immediately sent Bay Constables and Park Rangers (Park Ranger Sergeant Steven Frank and Park Ranger Charles Kang) to respond. Suffolk County Police and the Kings Park Fire Department were also dispatched to the call.
Dispatchers (Dispatch Supervisor Jaclyn Davis and Dispatcher Alyssa Okvist) were able to pinpoint and track the location of the victim, using the original caller's description and the department's security camera. Smithtown Public Safety Communications Division located the victim in the water, clinging to a channel marker, and relayed the information to responding units until the victim lost grip of the buoy and was swept out of camera view.
Upon arrival, Park Ranger Sergeant Steven Frank was able to visually locate the victim with the help of witnesses and maintained sight of him as he managed to grab a hold of another channel marker at the mouth of the river and Smithtown Bay. As Sergeant Frank was relaying this information to Bay Constables William Rohr and Michael Grayson, who were responding on a department Safe Boat, the victim again lost hold and was pushed by the current into Smithtown Bay. With aid from the officers on shore, the Bay Constables were able to navigate to the victim, who had now become fatigued and was suffering from hypothermia and struggling to stay afloat. Bay Constables Rohr and Grayson were able to grab a hold of the victim and pull him onboard through the dive door of the vessel where they began to administer first aid. The 45 Year old male victim, Matthew Esoff of Kings Park, was brought to the Kings Park Bluff where he was treated and transported to Stony Brook University Hospital by Kings Park Fire Department Rescue.