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TECHNOTE: Thu 9/4/25 Radio broadcast interruptions during tower work 9am-5pm

Meridian Township Police Chief Saves Woman In Pond

Meridian Township Chief Ken Plaga
Meridian Township

A police chief getting a morning coffee suddenly had a more urgent priority: He shed his shirt and boots and jumped into a pond to save a woman whose car was in the water in Ingham County.

Meridian Township Chief Ken Plaga and Sgt. Ed Bensonen got the car door open and brought the elderly woman to shore in Meridian Township, also known as Okemos.

The Lansing State Journal says Plaga didn't mention his role until township Manager Frank Walsh announced it on Facebook .

The chief says it wasn't immediately known why the woman's car landed in the pond. He says he was just doing his job.

Walsh says the "heroic effort" of the two officers saved the woman.

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