Probationary police Officer Juan Farris thought he was just responding to a bad crash on Lake Shore Drive on Tuesday morning. He ended up making the first dog rescue of his young career.



As Farris and other officers worked the scene in the 600 block of Lake Shore Drive, a dog got loose from one of the four wrecked cars and started running along the lake.



"He just kept running back and forth, was pretty excited," said Farris, who graduated from the police academy six weeks ago.



The dog "kept trying to get water out of the lake and fell into the lake. I heard the splash. Once I heard, I turned over, I saw him swimming, just went over there and grabbed him," Farris told reporters at a news conference.



"I was hoping he didn't get too far because it would've been quite the battle if I had to jump in," he said.



Video shot by a news helicopter shows Farris lying flat on the concrete and reaching down and pulling the dog up.



Once the dog was safe, Farris, field training Officer Daniel Guzman and other officers got him on a leash. The dog didn't have a collar or chip, and police were trying to locate the owner.