>Closing arguments set for Nov. 28 in Graydon Pool drowning trial.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2011, 8:34 PM
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
If Steven Kim had reported to the Ridgewood Police Department that he tried to save the life of his friend Soo Hyeon Park before he drowned at Graydon Pool on July 15, 2008, a criminal investigation may have been launched, it was revealed in court this week.
Testimony in the civil trial of the Park family versus the Village of Ridgewood this week revealed that Steven Kim, who, with his brother Peter Kim, were hosts to the Park family visiting Ridgewood from Korea that summer, likely did not tell police the entire account of his experiences when 13-year-old Soo Hyeon Park drowned.
Steven Kim has testified several times under oath that he saw his friend struggling in the water and that he tried to save Soo Hyeon by swimming to him and pulling at his hair to attempt to lift him.
He never told the police department he reached Soo Hyeon and made contact with him, according to Detective Douglas Henky, who interviewed the boys at The Valley Hospital after Soo Hyeon’s body was brought there. Henky said, rather, that Steven told him he considered swimming to Soo Hyeon, but decided against it and instead went to get help. Henky concluded his interview with the two boys, he said, and never spoke to them again.
