[lysander]

Vigilante Do-Gooder (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050705/ap_on_re_us/rescuer_arrested;_ylt=AlUig9XezGawYSIGa2bSmeqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-)

Texas Man Arrested After Heroic Rescue Tue Jul 5, 7:09 AM ET

SAN MARCOS, Texas - A man who rescued a swimmer caught in swirling river currents found himself in trouble soon afterward when he was arrested by authorities who claimed he was interfering.

Dave Newman, 48, disobeyed repeated orders by emergency personnel to leave the water, police said. He was charged with interfering with public duties.

"I was amazed," Newman said Monday after his release on $2,000 bail. "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."

Abed Duamni, 35, of Houston, said he had just finished eating at a restaurant Sunday when he decided to go for a swim in a nearby river. Duamni said he didn't see any signs warning swimmers of dangerous currents.

Newman said he pulled Duamni out of the water, swimming under a waterfall and over to the shore opposite from the restaurant. He could hear law enforcement personnel telling him to come back to the other side.

According to police, Newman smirked and seemed annoyed by officers' requests. He stood in the water for about 15 seconds before swimming downstream.

"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 John Parnell, pastor of St. Augustine Old Roman Catholic Church in Fort Worth.

[Vernal45]

No good deed.........

[HighVelocity]

Sounds like sour grapes from the police. :scrutiny:

[Standing Wolf]

Abed Duamni, 35, of Houston, said he had just finished eating at a restaurant Sunday when he decided to go for a swim in a nearby river.

I'll bet he has sense enough to wait an hour next time.

[TMM]

what a bunch of idiots...

~TMM

[centac]

Its always so simple isnt it, but swiftwater rescue isnt. Any number of would-be heros have croaked or wound up needing rescue themselves when they decided they knew more than the pros......

I saw a hose humper go into a flooded river, no safety lines, no rigging, no PFD or anything to recover a dead body, and wound up three miles downstream using the dearly departed as a flotation device. The media thought he was a hero. Everybody else thought he was an idiot

[Spreadfire Arms]

im surprised the police think they can arrest someone for not talking to them, but then again, i have heard a few central Texas police agencies use this line. my friend was once the witness to an assault case on 6th Street. Austin PD Detective called him:

"I need you to come down to the police station right now to make a statement regarding this assault."

"Okay, well I don't have anything to say to you."

"If you don't come down and make a statement I will issue a warrant for your arrest."

"You said I'm a witness, right?"

"Yes."

"What are you going to issue a warrant for, being a witness to a crime?"

:mad: "Well you just have to come down right now and give me a statement."

"Tell you what, here is my lawyer's name. Why don't you give him a call. <Click>"

I've heard this type of strategy used by Austin PD alot to coerce statements from people. this is the same mentality used by the campus cops who arrested this guy.

on talk radio this morning they were discussing this. one guy who is a trained water rescue person (probably a firefighter or something) brought up the point that why would the emergency personnel take the word of a citizen that nobody else was down under the water? so if the guy said "No, there is nobody else," and then they cleared the scene, and then it was determined that there was someone else, wouldn't the emergency personnel be in the wrong for failing to check it out themselves?

in my opinion they are really stretching the limits of arresting someone for interfering with emergency personnel. he did not interfere, rather, he did not offer up any information. however, the information he could have offered up would not relieve them of the fact that they need to do their job and go look for others themselves.

morons. there is no civil service protection at that police agency, the campus police that is (not the city PD).

[rhubarb]

According to police, Newman smirked and seemed annoyed by officers' requests.
He was probably thinking of that line, "I'm the only one in this room professional enough to carry a Glock 40."


They're gonna stand by and twiddle their thumbs while someone drowns but they don't want some regular dude off the street to step up and show some courage in the face of their fear. What a bunch of numbnuts.

[centac]

No, they are probably going to do something outrageous like form a plan and execute it.

:rolleyes:

[Vernal45]

they are probably going to do something outrageous like form a plan and execute it.

When someone is drowning, planning is not required, action is.

"I need you to come down to the police station right now to make a statement regarding this assault."

"Okay, well I don't have anything to say to you."

"If you don't come down and make a statement I will issue a warrant for your arrest."

"You said I'm a witness, right?"

"Yes."

"What are you going to issue a warrant for, being a witness to a crime?"

"Well you just have to come down right now and give me a statement."

"Tell you what, here is my lawyer's name. Why don't you give him a call. <Click>"


Wow. I wont reply to that, mods would jump all over me again.

[centac]

Planning is action. Nothing plows up a good emergency like everyone doing their own thing with general chaos prevailing. They dont call it an incident command system for nothin'.

The guy got lucky. It could have just as easily turned into a 2 victim rescue or recovery. Hot dogs frequently get eaten.

[Biker]

But it didn't Centac. The guy did a good deed. You should buy him a cup of....nah. Too obvious. *wink*

Biker

[Don Gwinn]

When someone is drowning, planning is not required, action is.
Wow.


"Don't think, Jimmy, just do it!"
"I think I'm drownin', Carl!"
"Dammit, Jimmy, I said DON'T think!"

This guy lucked out with the river and not with the police. That doesn't make the police wrong.

[Biker]

Could be you're right. However, there's a man now breathing instead of taking the big dirt nap that might not be living if a 'civy' had not taken action.
Biker

[Zundfolge]

According to police, Newman smirked and seemed annoyed by officers' requests.

THAT is the core of this entire thing.

Some cops got their knickers in a twist because someone didn't [cartman voice]Respect Mah Authoritah![/cartman voice].



He's just darn lucky he didn't try to use a coffee can as a flotation device :rolleyes:

[walking arsenal]

Wow, for once i sorta agree with centac, weird, anyhoo the way i see it and the problem we run into in search and rescue is that there are a few people who stand around and plan, and plan, and plan, and plan. While the world keeps moving for the vic.

This one is a no brainer. The guy shouldnt have gone because.

A. no one knows if he's trained to deal with a panicked drowning victim.
B. if he isnt trained he might become a second victim, pulling resources off the first.
C. he didnt have the equipment for it. (like a rope or life vest etc)
D. the good guys were there to take care of it, they had things under control, if they werent there by all means go get the drowning guy! This is what we pay them for.

The cops didnt need to arrest the guy, that part is odd and an over reaction.
The cops needed to do "less talk, more rock".

as in "Cripes! that guys drowning, you get me a rope, you keep that other dude from jumpin in after him"

problem solved on paper, i wasnt there though, things look way different in the field.

[Farnham]

Wow, next time I see someone drowning/trapped in a car wreck/on fire/buried under rubble/being attacked by ravening mutant hamsters, I'm going to [Officer Barbrady voice]Move along, folks, nothing to see here[/Officer Barbrady voice].

Maybe if the cop had been in the water SAVING someone, he wouldn't have been able to handcuff Mr. Newman. Maybe Mr. Newman smelled like coffee?

Moron.

S/F

Farnham

[CentralTexas]

"No, they are probably going to do something outrageous like form a plan and execute it."

Yup, I agree, sounds like they had the Columbine PD plan book out and were thinking about which one to use. :rolleyes:

CT

[thereisnospoon]

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

Did he have a dryer sheet in his pocket? :neener:

[R.H. Lee]

You vill not disobey the officers. They are the authorities, and you are dog dung. Remember that.

What arrogance.

[Joejojoba111]

"D. the good guys were there to take care of it, they had things under control, if they werent there by all means go get the drowning guy! This is what we pay them for."

The good guys? Good guys?

People stand by their police, and I can understand that, sort of like how some fans really really support their sports teams. I get that.

But to assume that there were firemen with a raft and SCUBA divers just seconds away from leaping into the water, and this swimmer ran up and slashed their boat and stole a SCUBA tank and then laughed maniacally as he went to fulfill his own ego by 'rescuing' a guy in the river...

He was there, he did good, the police were there, they didn't do good. The police say he did bad. The police arrest him. The police are the ones doing bad.... the police ARE the BAD GUYS. He was the Good Guy.

Oh whats the point, when people bother debating articles like this. Comrades.

[ojibweindian]

You're right, Masters. We humbly bow and beg your forgiveness of our hubris. We are incapable, lowly worms, and you are our benevolent benefactors :rolleyes:

[ksnecktieman]

I would like to know if the good samaritan had life guard training, had intimate knowledge of the river, or just a sense of duty, and confidence in his abilities. His confidence proved justified this time. I am sure that next time he will stand there, and watch someone drown rather than help.
IMHO justice would be served in this case if the first victim (the one drowning, not the one arrested) would sue the department that was on scene for inaction, and pay the fines for second victim (the man that was arrested for saving his life) that did save him.

Yes, I understand emergency personell have procedures to follow, but this is a miscarriage of justice.

[walking arsenal]

Sorry joe, didnt mean to pee in your cheerios. I wanted to use authorities, proffesionals or trained but i figured those words would just tick everyone off too.

some of the other posts just make me go :rolleyes: a lot.

for some people, it's never good enough.

[ravinraven]

...of the time a friend's dog got run over. The dog was in fatal shape, but moving and in pain. Police were called. A trooperette showed up. She shot the dog three times and only made it worse. Then a guy shot the dog and sent it on to that big fire hydrant in the sky. The trooperette busted the guy for shooting a gun within 500 feet of a building.

Another time, a guy hit a bear up here and broke its back. The bear was raging, naturally and stricking wildly. It took a chunk out of the fender of the car. It dragged itself for the woods but didn't get far. A guy shot it to end its troubles. He got busted for shooting a bear out of season.

rr

[Remington788]

Basically, in todays America, you can not help someone without getting sued or arrested, regardless of the outcome.

[Joejojoba111]

"I wanted to use authorities, proffesionals or trained but i figured those words would just tick everyone off too."

yea yea, but the 'emergency personnel' consisted of police, and their 'planning' or 'actions' consisted of yelling at the rescuer to get out of the water.

And then he's arrested, when he leapt into the water to save another man's life, situation which obviously is allowed, but he's arrested for not respecting the police orders to let the man drown seriously.

Instead of them being charged with crimes, he is. Bizarro world... What ya gonna do.

[beerslurpy]

"What are you going to issue a warrant for, being a witness to a crime?"

Ah teh funny. That hit the spot.

Almost as funny as arresting someone and charging them with the crime of resisting arrest. Resisting arrest for what crime, officer? Uh uh uh uh, ????.

[joab]

yea yea, but the 'emergency personnel' consisted of police, and their 'planning' or 'actions' consisted of yelling at the rescuer to get out of the water. But we don't know thatthere's a man now breathing instead of taking the big dirt nap that might not be living if a 'civy' had not taken action. Or that
But to assume that there were firemen with a raft and SCUBA divers just seconds away from leaping into the water Or even this.

There is more to this story that has not been printed here.

Maybe the cop overreated, maybe there was a full rescue operation underway.

If we read between the lines just a little bit.

We know that emergency personel were on the scene, therefore unless they happened to be there eating, this was not a seat of the pants Hollywood rescue.
The victim may have been holding onto a tree or rock in the river, like you see in the TV rescue shows, there may have been a rope strung across the river, like I have seen in a TV rescue show.
Or the cops could have been standing around with one thumb up their butts and one in their mouth swapping every once in awhile while the guy was going down for the third time.

Way too much missing info (once again) to take sides.

[peacefuljeffrey]

...of the time a friend's dog got run over. The dog was in fatal shape, but moving and in pain. Police were called. A trooperette showed up. She shot the dog three times and only made it worse. Then a guy shot the dog and sent it on to that big fire hydrant in the sky. The trooperette busted the guy for shooting a gun within 500 feet of a building.


Hmmm... "I'm the only one within 500 feet of this building qualified to handle this .40 cal. Glock pistol within 500 feet of a building..." :rolleyes:


-Jeffrey

[peacefuljeffrey]

Way too much missing info (once again) to take sides.


So naturally, Joab, you take the side of upholding the decision made by law enforcement buffoo- er, officers. :rolleyes:


You didn't really think that tendency of yours would go unnoticed for very long, did you?

-Jeffrey

[RevDisk]

The basic information is that Abed Duamni was drowning. Dave Newman for whatever reason dove in and saved Abed's life. Intelligent? Maybe, maybe not. That's a decision every person has to make when faced with a situation of safety or risking one's life for another human being.

The police ordered him not to save Abed's life. He did so anyways. After Newman successfully saves Abed's life, he is arrested.

Am I missing anything?

I find it hard to justify the police's actions. I'm more willing to side with Newman because he obviously risked his life for another person. Short of some incredibly mitigating circumstances not meantioned... What the heck is wrong with those cops? (Not all cops, THOSE cops. Or heck, just the cop that arrested Newman and any police officer that witnessed the 'arrest') If the cops don't want to risk their lives for a drowning person, fine. Advising others not to risk their lives, fine. Arresting people for getting the job done, not fine.


Planning is action. Nothing plows up a good emergency like everyone doing their own thing with general chaos prevailing. They dont call it an incident command system for nothin'.

The guy got lucky. It could have just as easily turned into a 2 victim rescue or recovery. Hot dogs frequently get eaten.

"everyone" seems to be one guy that apparently did not see fit to trust the alleged professionals. Perhaps the guy was lucky, or MAYBE he actually knew what he was doing. Obviously, we don't know.

He made a judgement call not to trust the alleged professionals. By their immediate actions afterwards, I think he made the right choice. By their own behavior, I would not trust those alleged professionals.


I've seen it in uniform before. I've seen many times when a surbordinate steps up to the plate because a superior did not. Yea, they tend to get hammered for violating the chain of command, but that's the price of doing the right thing.

I once saw (well, mostly heard over the command net) a bunch of MP's get into a tight situation with an unruly mob. Things were getting hairy. They called for re-inforcements. A Lt with a couple squads of infantry hears this over the command net. They had been practicing helo movements, but had all their equipment. The Lt called in for permission to step up. No answer from Task Force HQ but "wait". Finally, the Lt experienced 'radio difficulties' and landed the helo's to reinforce the MP's on the ground. No telling how many lives that Lt saved. Oh man did that Lt get hammered once he got back to base. That Lt did the right thing, even if it was the 'wrong' thing according to the chain of command. Sometimes, that's how it is.

Yes, I realize it's different in the civilian world, to an extent. Sometimes you have to do the 'wrong' thing according to whatever authority in order to do the Right thing. Yes, you will likely get hammered for it. A good person does it anyways.

That, centac, is the difference between the textbook and reality.

[beerslurpy]

If someone sees the right thing to do and that it may cost him his life, yet he is the first to act when others will not, he is a hero. Welcome to the dictionary.

They should have given him a medal for bravery and given the cops boots in the ass for cowardice and stupidity- not only because they sat on the sidelines, but because they arrested him for showing them up.

[joab]

So naturally, Joab, you take the side of upholding the decision made by law enforcement buffoo- er, officers. So what are you doing, trying to get this thread closed too.Or the cops could have been standing around with one thumb up their butts and one in their mouth swapping every once in awhile while the guy was going down for the third time. How suppportive does that sound to you Centec

And by the way I took no side, my last sentence pretty much says that.

[bogie]

Hey, if I see someone drowning, I'm going in after 'em. While the donut munchers have a meeting on the banks... I may be old and fat, but I'm a good swimmer, and I still remember a coupla-three things from all those little things they drilled into us in 4-H, boy scouts, the army, etc...

Too many people confuse meetings with action. Internal meetings cost money.

[Igloodude]

It is safe to assume that the fellow that dived in was familiar with the river, having led a campaign to get the fences around it removed:


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.

And while we might say "not enough information to make the call" eyewitnesses at the scene did, and here's their reaction:

"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.

I would think if the crowd had seen the police rigging up a rescue, getting a boat in the water, or what-have-you, they would not have reacted that way.

[DRZinn]

Maybe there a couple of Barney Fife types standing and watching, Maybe, on the other hand, there were trained emergency resuce personnel who were about 5 seconds away from going in and getting the guy. Either way, he didn't interfere with anything, he didn't stop them from doing anything, he just saved the guy.

That's a crime?

[Tokugawa]

Speaking from the perspective of of someone who has almost drowned in a swift river ,under a raging waterfall, I understand completely why the man was reluctant to get back in the water and swim across.! And why he swam downstream, angling with the current. His smirk? one guys "smirk", seen across a noisy river, is anothers grimace. Maybe he was just gasping for breath.

Remember, you can't do anything yourself- just wait for the authorities....
We have been trained this way for generations now -BAAAAAA BAAAAAAA..

[rock jock]

Looks like someone missed their "hero opportunity" and sought retribution as a result.

[Logistics]

Just out of curiosity, were there any empty coffee cans found at the scene?

;)

[Old Partner]

COPS SUCK! caps and bold intentional

[AK-74me]

This another case where you have to use the "no harm, no foul" rule..... Now if he would of actually got in the way of a rescue and lives were lost then by all means he should be arrested, but it didn't go down like that. He should be considered a hero and the police should congratulate him and thank him for not having to get their boots wet.

[lysander]

I figured that many of you would find this as disappointing as I did. As of this morning it has made national news...saw several mentions of the story on the Boob Tube as I munched on some waffles. (the toaster variety of course)

So the question is: What are we "unofficial types" supposed to do? Stand by on our cellphones frantically dialing 911? Essentially, the powers that be don't want you plain old folks taking action...you might start to see that it works, you might get used to doing it again, find that their services aren't as needed as they claim and then their jobs would be in jeopardy.

[bjbarron]

"I made a decision to go with my gut feeling and pull him out of the water rather than get out of the water myself,"

Sounds like he was already in the water when the police yelled for him to get out. He didn't just dive in.

Authorities agree he helped the victim, Abdul Duamni, out of the water, but they say afterwards Newman failed to get out right-away.

"He was not obeying what they said or responding to their request. All he would have had to do was come across the river," Ralph Myers with Texas State University Police said.

Authorities say he kept EMS personnel from immediately assessing the scene. Newman contends he did the right thing.

Or maybe he just didn't swim out after he rescued the guy?

"I tried to catch my breath over here, then I swam across as soon as I exited the water. They extended their hand to help me out and put the cuffs on me," Newman said.

What rational human being could swim away from a drowning man when he (obviously) believed he could save him? I doubt anyone on this forum would do that if the situation was the same. Suppose it had been a child? 40,000 years of evolution would have had the whole group (except the cops, unless it was a donut drowning) in the water immediately.

Update: Scarborough Interview with the rescuer transcripts (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8485038/)

And, at that time ... I waited for him to come up. And so did some other people. We noticed that he didn't come up. And our level of concern grew. And we made our way over to that area and began to feel back up in that cavity. There is a sort of manmade cave -- I would call it a cavity -- underwater that he was in.

We began to feel back in there. And then some people gathered and brought some ropes and a crab net that we were feeling, probing that area with and then some diving goggles. About the time that the EMS and the police arrived, I had actually brushed up against something in there letting myself down on a rope secured to one of the bars on the wall there at the scene.

I touched something, and then, when I came back up, the police were yelling for everyone out of the water, out of the water, and I knew that I had brushed something up in there. And I thought one more attempt was worth risking going against their wishes, the police.

- The rescuer was in the water already
- Other people were in the water with him for the rescue attempt
- People were using ropes and nets to reach the drowning guy before the cops showed up
- The cops showed up after the drowning guy was under about 10 mins
- They seem to imply that the rescuer was arrested because he was too exhausted to get out of the water

[1911 guy]

A) He got the guy out.
B) Police said they were upset he did not obey orders to get out of the river.
C) He swam back to the side he entered from and was arrested.

First, he's got to be a darn good swimmer to keep relative position in flowing current. Not a glory hound, then, but a capable swimmer helping.

Second, if he had stayed on the far side of the river who was going to go get him?

Third, my take on reading this is that the cops were too wound up and panicked to realize that not everyone is a schmuck who needs Barney to save them. He got a man out and then got himself out, too. Good for him, shame on the cops who stood around.

[TearsOfRage]

Another sign that we're getting close to the point where anything not compulsory is forbidden.

[Spreadfire Arms]

as written in today's Austin American Statesman, here comes the backpedaling:


http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/07/6tsuarrest.html
[you need to create a login to access this link so i pasted it below]


Officials say rescuer arrested for not cooperating
San Marcos man hindered emergency workers' ability to assess situation, authorities say.
By Miguel Liscano

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

SAN MARCOS — Emergency workers on Tuesday acknowledged that Dave Newman helped a man escape from drowning in the San Marcos River last weekend but said it was his refusal to cooperate afterward that led to an arrest and a night in jail.

Abed Duamni of Houston got caught in the current while swimming Sunday afternoon and became stuck under a building. Duamni said he found an air pocket and stayed there for about 15 minutes before Newman grabbed his leg and pulled him out.

Meanwhile, on the surface, emergency officials were trying to figure out how many people were in trouble, and San Marcos Fire Marshal Kenneth Bell said Newman's refusal to speak immediately with authorities hurt their ability to assess the situation.

Emergency workers had been called to the scene expecting to find four people in trouble — three struggling in the water and one stuck under Joe's Crab Shack at Spring Lake Dam. They tried to get everyone out of the water and assess the situation, Bell said. Officials could not send anyone into the water until it was clear. "I'd like to thank Mr. Newman for the part that he did have in the rescue of Mr. Duamni," said Ralph Meyer, director of the Texas State University-San Marcos Police Department. But "we didn't know how many more were there or if there was somebody else underneath."

Newman would not get out of the water, Bell said, even after Duamni was safe and talking to authorities. Bell said Newman then swam to the other side of the river and was "sitting Indian-style on a concrete wall saying, 'Why?' " when asked to come over.

Newman said he was trying to get out of the river as fast as he could.

"I was pretty tired when all that was finished, and they wanted me to hop-to," Newman said. "I came out as soon as was reasonably humanly possible."

After Newman crossed the river, he was arrested on a charge of interfering with public duties and refusing a lawful order, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. As he was arrested, a crowd yelled at police, and two men tried to block the officers' path to the car that carried him to jail.

Meyer said Newman probably would not serve any more jail time relating to incident. And he would not rule out the possibility of the charge being dropped altogether.

"Anything is possible," Meyer said.

Police said Newman had heard the order to leave the spillway area and said later, "I saved the guy, and there was no need for me to leave."

Newman said he heard the order to get out of the water but initially ignored it because he'd thought he felt Duamni underwater.

"The one thing I did wrong was not just jump out of the water at the first command," Newman said. "But I had already touched this fellow under there."

This wasn't the first time a person has been in danger at the popular San Marcos swimming spot. In April, 22-year-old Jason Lee Bonnin, a Joe's Crab Shack employee, drowned after he and three other employees jumped into the river.

Since then, officials have been called five times to the area near Joe's Crab Shack to help people out of the river. On Thursday, rescue workers pulled two people out of the water from the same place Duamni had been trapped.

Duamni said he did not notice signs warning swimmers of rough waters. University officials said they will work with the city to see how they can better warn visitors of the dangers in that spot.

[GunGoBoom]

Planning is action. Nothing plows up a good emergency like everyone doing their own thing with general chaos prevailing. They dont call it an incident command system for nothin'.

The guy got lucky. It could have just as easily turned into a 2 victim rescue or recovery. Hot dogs frequently get eaten.

Centac is exactly right, regarding these statements. This guy *should have* let the public servants do their job.

HOWEVER, this is NOT the same question at all as "Should he have been arrested for ignoring their orders?" or "Did he commit a crime?" or "Were the orders to not interfere lawful?" These are much tougher questions. I tend to think that he should NOT have been arrested, because he didn't actually "interfere" with a rescue in progress. Since all's well that ends well, he should have been verbally warned and let go - he made the correct calculation, even though it would have been better if he had let the pros do their job, absent a demonstrable neglect to act by the pros.

[2nd Amendment]

I'm not certain which I like seeing more in this decaying age of ours. "Authorities" making such public asses of themselves, or apologists keeping the assinine behavior in the spotlight. Either way, it assures more and more people actually look at the "authorities" with a critical eye and that can only help to eventually remind those "authorities" who is the actual authority and who are just the paid servants.

[svtruth]

There is an interesting analogous salt water situation described in the book, Dead Men Tapping.

[walking arsenal]

old partner

Regular people suck too.

[RevDisk]

Ah. The truth comes out. Apparently Newman knew the area pretty well and is apparently a good swimmer. He got in trouble not for saving a person's life, but for not immediately swimming across an apparently dangerous river immediately after an exhausting rescue,



"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.

When a Catholic priest violates the law by actively trying to interfere with the arrest of a 'criminal', it's often a good indiction that something might be amiss. It's possible Father Parnell might be a cop-hating anarchist, but I somehow doubt it. I am sincerely surprised they didn't arrest the good Father also.

Hmm. So Newman rescues Abed, takes a breather and is arrested for not immediately crossing the dangerous water. Priest jumps in to block arrest. Uhm...

[williegee]

Bottom line is that the "authorities" are embarrassed and probably more than a little annoyed that a mere commoner defied them and got it done while they all stood around and watched helplessly. In front of an audience, no less. We can't have that so what else can they do but punish him for doing their jobs. I always try very hard to give LEO's the benefit of the doubt but this just seems so obviously wrong that it really makes me doubt their alleged reasons for arresting him.

[AK-74me]

When a Catholic priest violates the law by actively trying to interfere with the arrest of a 'criminal', it's often a good indiction that something might be amiss.

I agree but, really think about what you are saying. Catholic Preists have been known not to be "Saints" themselves if you know what I mean.

Sorry I just couldn't let that slide by.

[Joejojoba111]

There was a second thread on this, too.

"This has been all over the news and local talk shows reacently. A caller to a local talk show was a first hand witness and basically bashed the cops hevily as showing up knowing people were drowing and only yelling at the rescuer to get out of the water.

From what the guy said many eye witnesses tried to talk to the police, however they still arrested the man.

I can't belive this, it's absolutely insane."

"This guy is also a commercial pilot and the news said his job was in danger because of this "
waffen


To clarify, once and for all, along with what should seem obvious, there facts here and in other posts.

The rescue effort was already under way.

The police walked up and ordered everyone out.

That's about it.

Oh yea, and if the police want to arrest you they'll say anything. You were smirking, you were asking them 'why', you were too tired from just rescueing a guy to swim the dangerous river again... They don't care what.

Remember what our illustrious members on this board have informed us, "You can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride."

So bend over and let the cops have their way, and then maybe if you're a millionaire you can take the police to court and have a little justice served. Otherwise be grateful if they don't taser you.

[Old Partner]

I am fully aware that cops do not consider themselves "regular people" They are SUPER PEOPLE! (and they still suck)

[Vernal45]

"You can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride."


That statement really tells a lot, all that needs to be said, of SOME LEO's. Basically, "I am arresting you, I know the arrest is bogus, but hey, I can do it, you can pay your money to beat the arrest later". Crappy way of doing things.


This guy is a hero. He acted while the LEO's stood there, thumbs up there anal regions discussing the rescue in committee.

Planning is a good thing, IF you have time to plan. When a person is drowning/about to die, planning is out the window, action is needed. The cops screwed the pooch, got mad that someone did not JUMP TO, and arrested him.

[LawDog]

All cops suck, huh?

This one is done.

Lights out.

LawDog