Department of Public Safety acting spokesman Jason T. Tarkong said DPS dispatched emergency personnel at about 5:56 p.m. on Saturday after receiving reports of two men who were stranded.
Tarkong said police officers who responded to the scene identified the victims as Jerry N. Diaz, 28, and another man identified only as Eric.
Tarkong said Diaz told police he had been boogie boarding or bodyboarding inside the reef by the Chalan Kanoa Beach Club when he was swept outside the reef by the strong current.
Diaz told police that he attempted several times to paddle back into the reef but the waves were too big and the current too strong.
Tarkong said Eric, who was also surfing, came to Diaz’s aid and pulled him away from the reef and away from the big waves.
Tarkong said both were rescued by a passing fishing boat operated by Alvin Iglecias.
Police learned that Iglecias was with his son and two friends, Joe Reyes and Keith Torres, on their way to Sugar Dock when they noticed the two men in the rough water waving their hands in the air.
Iglecias maneuvered his boat near the two men in the water while his three passengers assisted by pulling the two men out of the water and safely into the boat.
Iglecias then brought the stranded men to Sugar Dock.
Tarkong said Eric had already left when the responding police officers arrived.
