EAST CHICAGO | ArcelorMittal personnel joined the U.S. Coast Guard and the Gary and Lake County police marine units in recovering a 4-year-old boy trapped on an out-of-control boat in Lake Michigan, police said.

County police said Duane Tonks, 38, of Lansing, his wife and 4-year-old son were in a 17-foot power boat about a quarter mile north of the Pastrick Marina off the shores of East Chicago when Tonks and his wife were thrown overboard by a wave created by the wake of another boat.

Police said Bobby Wheatly and John McFadden, who were in a nearby boat, pulled the couple out of the water, but the 4-year-old was still in the power boat which was speeding in circles near the steel mill's break wall.

Officers in the Coast Guard and police marine units attempted to stop the boat by throwing ropes into its path hoping to bind the propeller fins, an attempt that initially failed.

But when the boat struck some rocks near the wall, the propellers tangled in the rope, and the engine stalled.

ArcelorMittal rescue swimmers removed the boy from the boat and placed him on the county police boat. The boy and his parents were uninjured. The boat was towed to the marina to repairs to its propeller.