A city police officer saved a woman from drowning at Rockaway Beach this week.

Officer William Lauria, who used to be a lifeguard, rescued a 25-year-old Staten Island woman Monday night.

The NYPD confirms the woman went into the water around Beach 94th Street around 7:30pm, and got caught up in choppy water. Another person tried unsuccessfully to save the woman. That's when officer Lauria stepped in to help.

He says he talked to the woman to calm her down, and got her safely to shore. She was treated at an area hospital.