Wanted Victoria man arrested in U.S. after Coast Guard rescue, bizarre fish incident
A man who was saved by a Coast Guard rescue swimmer at the mouth of the Columbia River as a massive wave rolled the yacht he was piloting Friday was wanted for a bizarre incident in which police said he left a dead fish at the Astoria, Oregon, home featured in the classic 1985 film, “The Goonies.”
Officers had been looking for the man since Wednesday, when an acquaintance alerted them to a video he posted on social media of himself leaving the fish at the house and then dancing around the property, Astoria Police Chief Stacy Kelly said.
Kelly identified the man as Jericho Labonte, 35, of Victoria, British Columbia. Labonte is also wanted in British Columbia on criminal harassment, mischief and failure to comply cases from last fall, Kelly said.
Early Friday afternoon, the Coast Guard shared stunning video of a rescue made a few hours earlier in which a newly minted rescue swimmer lowered by cable from a helicopter swam to a 35-foot (11-metre) yacht that was struggling in heavy surf. As the swimmer approached the vessel, a large wave slammed into it, rolling the boat over and throwing a man, later identified as Labonte, into the water.
The swimmer, Petty Officer 1st Class Branch Walton, of Greenville, South Carolina, reached Labonte and pulled him to safety. The helicopter crew flew him to Coast Guard Base Astoria, where medics treated him for mild hypothermia and transported him to a hospital.
The yacht's owner, who lives in nearby Warrenton, Oregon, reported the vessel stolen later Friday, the police chief said.
The hospital had already released Labonte when police saw the Coast Guard photos and video and realized it was the same person who they said covered over security cameras at the Goonies house and left the dead fish on the porch.
Police said Saturday that Labonte had been taken into custody.
Kelly didn't know what kind of fish it was, but said police believed it was caught locally because after the video started circulating another person reported having taken Labonte fishing.
“It's been a really odd 48 hours,” Kelly said.
The mouth of the Columbia, the largest North American river flowing into the Pacific Ocean, is known as “the graveyard of the Pacific” for its notoriously rough seas. The Coast Guard received the yacht's mayday call around 10 a.m. Friday while conducting trainings nearby, Petty Officer Michael Clark said.
The mayday contained no information about location or the specific problem, but the agency roughly triangulated the vessel's location and nearby boat crews and a helicopter responded.
They found the P/C Sandpiper yacht taking on water in 20-foot (6-metre) seas, meaning the height of a wave from the previous trough could be as much as 40 feet (12 metres), Clark said.
Walton, who only recently graduated from the Coast Guard's rescue swimmer program, was lowered from the helicopter by a cable. Labonte climbed onto the stern and prepared to enter the water just as a huge wave slammed the craft, throwing him into the surf. The wave struck so violently that the vessel rolled completely over and wound up floating upright.
Walton said in an interview Friday that he planned to reach the man, get him in the water and hook him to a cable attached to the helicopter. Instead, the wave hit.
“I kind of got thrown around a little bit by the wave. When I came up I noticed the boat was pretty much in shambles,” Walton said.
He directed the helicopter to bring him to Labonte after spotting him in the surf a short distance away. The force of the wave had mostly knocked off his life jacket, Walton said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Leonardo DiCaprio criticizes Ottawa over B.C. salmon farms
Salmon farms have long been a point of contention between environmentalists and fish farmers in British Columbia, but a much bigger net is now being cast on the topic.
Flight from Israel to New Jersey diverted to New York state due to high winds, turbulence
High winds and turbulence have forced a United Airlines flight from Israel to be diverted from its destination of Newark Airport in New Jersey to Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y..
Vancouver rapper falls on ice during Canucks game performance
The Vancouver Canucks weren’t the only ones who stumbled during Thursday night’s game against the Dallas Stars.
Snow-covered bodies of 2 men from Senegal found in New York woods near Canadian border
Two men from Senegal froze to death were found in the snow of a wooded area close to the Canadian border, New York state police said.
This historical tavern in Toronto is closing after nearly 200 years
An historic downtown Toronto bar is closing its doors next week after nearly 200 years in business.
For years she thought her son had died of an overdose. The police video changed all that
Austin Hunter Turner died in 2017, on a night that his mother has rewound and replayed again and again, trying to make sense of what happened.
Feeling older than you are? It could be how you sleep
Not getting enough sleep may cause you to feel five to 10 years older than you really are, according to two new studies.
Manhattan DA suggests Donald Trump violated gag order with post about daughter of hush-money trial judge
Manhattan prosecutors suggested Friday that Donald Trump violated a gag order in his hush-money criminal case this week by assailing the judge's daughter and making a false claim about her on social media.
Niagara Region 'proactively' declares state of emergency ahead of total solar eclipse
Niagara Region says it has declared a state of emergency 'out of an abundance of caution' as it prepares for an influx of visitors for next month’s total solar eclipse.