Life saver arrested

[Ron G.]

...And cops genuinely wonder why no one respects them anymore. The lifeguard union will be ****** off, also.

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread....threadid=143780

Houston swimmer's rescuer ends up in jail

Associated Press

SAN MARCOS - A San Marcos man was arrested after rescuing a swimmer from the swirling waters near a restaurant on the San Marcos River over the weekend.

Police say Dave Newman, 48, disobeyed repeated orders by emergency personnel to leave the water. The police report does not mention Newman's rescue of 35-year-old Abed Duamni of Houston on Sunday afternoon.

"I was amazed," Newman said after getting out of Hays County Law Enforcement Center on $2,000 bail Monday morning. "I had a very uncomfortable night after saving that guy's life. He thanked me for it in front of the police, and then they took me to jail."

After being handcuffed and put in a Texas State University police squad car, Newman was taken to jail and charged with interfering with public duties.

Duamni, who said he did not see any signs warning swimmers of the dangerous currents, jumped into the water several times before the current caught him. He had just finished eating at the restaurant when he decided to go for a swim.

"I reached a point where I said, 'I'm dead,' " Duamni, who was visiting San Marcos, said from his Houston home Monday night. "There's was nothing I could do. I thought, 'That's it, I'm over, I'm gone.'"

After reaching Duamni, Newman said he swam with him under a waterfall and deposited him on the shore opposite the restaurant. He could hear law enforcement personnel telling him to come back to the shore by the restaurant.

According to the report, Newman smirked and seemed annoyed by officers' requests. He stood in the water for about 15 seconds before swimming downstream, to avoid the turbulence from the waterfall, and across the river to the officers, the report said.

"When he came across the river, the officer stuck out his hand like he's going to help him out of the water, and he put cuffs on him," said the Rev. John Parnell, pastor of St. Augustine Old Roman Catholic Church in Fort Worth.

According to the police report and witness accounts, the crowd that had gathered to watch the rescue was upset when they saw the police arrest Newman.

Parnell and another man blocked the police officer's path to the squad car while other members of the crowd yelled at the police, telling them Newman had saved Duamni's life and should not be arrested.

University spokesman Mark Hendricks said he did not know whether Newman rescued Duamni. Hendricks said it was his understanding that Newman was uncooperative with authorities.

When Duamni got out of the water, he saw Newman in handcuffs and asked who he was. "I said, 'What's the deal,' and the police said, 'He got you out,'" Duamni said.

San Marcos resident Bob Ogletree said he understood why emergency personnel wanted to clear the water, but didn't understand why Newman had to be arrested.

In 1999, Texas State University, which owns the dam and the land around it, erected a fence to prohibit access to that part of the river. Later that year, the City Council enacted a swimming ban on that portion of the river. But Newman led a successful campaign to get the fences around the swimming hole removed and the ban relaxed.

In April, 22-year-old Jason Lee Bonnin, and a Texas State University student, drowned after he and three other restaurant workers jumped from the eatery into the river.

[LG]

I’d almost bet my house that there was more to the incident than the article indicates, Ron. I lived in San Marcos and the surrounding area for about 10 years and have had family there for over 30 years, and I know that there is a lot of background that the article doesn’t mention. I’m inclined to think that the police acted properly, though the story sure makes it seem otherwise.

[vickles]

Maybe it has something to do with this guy campaiging to get the ban lifted and now people have died?

[dmiller]

quote:

Originally posted by Long Gone:

I’d almost bet my house that there was more to the incident than the article indicates, Ron. I lived in San Marcos and the surrounding area for about 10 years and have had family there for over 30 years, and I know that there is a lot of background that the article doesn’t mention. I’m inclined to think that the police acted properly, though the story sure makes it seem otherwise.

Long Gone -- I don't know about that area, but am willing to agree with your assessment since you know it, and I don't.

HOWEVER: Something happened here recently, and the police reaction was

*poor* at best.

A bank acros the bay was robbed a week or so ago (in Superior, Wisconsin), and some of the employees in the back of the bank got outside before the thief did, and were able to chase him down, and collar him with the loot in a back alley 2 blocks away, and hold him for police.

It took the cops (looking everywhere for the guy) over a half an hour to realize that the thief had been caught, and was still being held by the employees of the bank 2 blocks from the scene of the crime.

The story came out the next day, and though the newspapers and the tv coverage told the story, the main emphasis was NOT what the employees accomplished, but rather the police telling citizens to :

NOT TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS!

It's a sad day when an *ordinary* citizen can't step up to bat,

and hit a home run.

[LG]

Some background, starting with a picture:

This site doesn’t look particularly dangerous, but it is, and has been for years. The dam is over 100 years old and is deteriorating, especially underneath. The waterfall is about 8 feet high. There is a strong back current that can trap people underneath the dam and, especially, under the rock and concrete on which the restaurant (top left of picture) is built.

The site was closed for swimming at least twice in the past, but later reopened. Several people have drowned there, the most recent one on April 21 of this year. The July 3 incident was the sixth time since then that emergency personnel were called to rescue someone at the site. They’ve also rescued people there plenty of other times over the years. They know what they’re doing. Below are links to a couple of follow-up stories.

Arrested rescuer interfered, police say

Charges dropped in river rescue incident