Tarentum police officer saves ducklings trapped in a storm sewer

Tarentum police Officer Kurt Jendrejewski knew what he had to do Sunday morning when it was clear there were ducklings in a storm sewer drain on Corbet Street.

After a concerned resident called the police station Jendrejewski showed up to find the mother duck and three of her ducklings frantically waiting by the sewer.

He removed the sewer grate and jumped into the roughly 5-foot-deep sewer to rescue what turned out to be six small ducklings.

“She kind of backed away and stood about 20 feet away with the rest of her ducklings,” he said. “As I pulled them out one by one, the mom would start quacking and they’d run to her.”

The first two he pulled out with a badminton racquet he keeps in his squad car for calls of bats, but the ducklings got so nervous he had to get down into the sewer to get the other four out with his hands.

Jendrejewski said they were so small they fit right in the palm of his hand.

He said he’s helped other animals in the 14 years he’s been with Tarentum, but this was by far his favorite.

“Mom was quacking the whole time they walked away, so maybe she was saying thanks,” he said.

Tarentum police Chief Bill Vakulick said Jendrejewski’s actions show the gamut of what police may encounter on any given day.

“It shows we’re not only there to arrest people,” he said. “We do whatever it takes.”