Posted on 06/14/2010 6:33:54 AM PDT by bjorn14
Clear Creek sheriff's deputies on Thursday arrested a rafting guide for swimming to a stranded young rafter who had tumbled from his boat on Clear Creek.
Ryan Daniel Snodgrass, a 28-year-old guide with Arkansas Valley Adventures rafting company, was charged with "obstructing government operations," said Clear Creek Sheriff Don Krueger.
"He was told not to go in the water, and he jumped in and swam over to the victim and jeopardized the rescue operation," said Krueger, noting that his office was deciding whether to file similar charges against another guide who was at the scene just downstream of Kermitts Roadhouse on U.S. 6.
Duke Bradford, owner of Arkansas Valley Adventures, said Snodgrass did the right thing by contacting the 13-year-old Texas girl immediately and not waiting for the county's search and rescue team to assemble ropes, rafts and rescuers.
"When you have someone in sight who has taken a long swim, you need to make contact immediately," said Bradford, a 15-year rafting guide and ski patroller from Summit County. "This is just silly. Ryan Snodgrass acted entirely appropriately. These guys came to the scene late and there was a rescue in progress. They came in and took over an existing rescue. To leave a patient on the side of a river while you get your gear out of the car and set up a rescue system you read about in a book is simply not good policy."
Snodgrass' raft flipped on the runoff-swelled Clear Creek around noon Thursday and the girl swam from the raft. Krueger said the girl was missing for 30 to 45 minutes while Snodgrass searched for her. He said she swam a half mile from the spot where the raft capsized.
Since it had been so long, Krueger said, it was no longer the rafting company's rescue.
"They should involve themselves up to a point. They lost contact. Whether they want to say they were trying to rescue their customer, when they had lost visual contact and had no idea where their customer has been for 30 to 45 minutes, then it becomes our issue."
Bradford said he would expect his guides to do the same thing again. His guides are professionals, he said, trained and certified in swiftwater rescue.
"To jump into water and navigate a river in a swiftwater rescue is common. You get into the river and swim. You have to do it," Branford said. "The fact these guys don't understand that is disturbing. Making contact immediately with your victim is essential. It's not about who is in charge. It's about the safety of a 13-year-old girl. You are going to do everything in your power to insure the safety of your guest, and if that means in Idaho Springs you get arrested, well I guess we'll just get arrested."
“obstructing government operations”
that cannot seriously be a crime in Colorado.
Interfering with UNIONS? Not ‘their’ job....to save a life?
Makes a good ad for Arkansas Adventures, I’d say.
This will NOT end well for the stupid Sherrif.
What a maroon!
If that was my daughter, I would sue the Sherrifs dept for obstruction
The stupid Goverment strikes again
Thank God the girl is safe! The rest of the story is nuts! Whoever can get there the quickest should be the one to go after her. We live in a strange world these days.
It’s now become a crime to save someone?
Orwellian indeed....how many have rushed into burning buildings and saved children while the fire dept is in route?
“I shot the sheriff”
I don’t know the legalities, or the rules of conduct, but arresting this guide seems petty and vindictive. Especially since it was a successful attempt. Is the sheriff peeved he didn’t get the credit?
Typical bureaucrats. They care about “process” and have no concern for results.
Oh, I think it is. It very much is.
Hope he demands a jury trial.
Cops are more interested in stroking their egos than serving the public.
But didn’t shoot the deputy..............
In before the Southpark pictures.
Something is definitely wrong when it is illegal for a qualified rescuer to help someone in need.
Is the greed, stupidity, laziness, and ineffectiveness of government employees and elected officials a symptom of our general decline or are they leading the charge?
Well, they, the government, had to schedule a meeting to decide how to handle the problem, set money aside, have rescue boats made ready, called the press for pictures and then when everything was ready start the rescue attempt.
Figure in about a month.
STUPID GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE BONE.
>>>Hope he demands a jury trial.
Jury trial is not enough - need at least one juror to see it for what it is, and lead the rest to nullification.
I’ve said this for over a decade: Anyone who aspires to be a cop today is either ignorant and naive or a brown shirt wannabee.
Or they just need a job - ANY job.
Excellent idea. JN has gotten pushed to far to the side.
What is with Colorado LEOs? You would have thought they would have learned from Columbine.
Except for when the results show that their “process” has not common sense.
Not to argue with your point, however rushing into a burning building can, and has, created a second victim for the fire dept to deal with if done recklessly. Compounding the situation for the firefighters is never a good idea. In this case, however, the rescuer was certified in the type of rescue he was attempting.
Agreed! I like this line especially: "You are going to do everything in your power to insure(sic) the safety of your guest, and if that means in Idaho Springs you get arrested, well I guess we'll just get arrested."
And if the girl had drowned while the “rescue team” was setting up, then the company would have likely been sued and the authorities would be off the hook. Another example of how we are expected to just sit around and wait for “the government” to take care of us. Good thing for this girl and her family that the guide did not do that.
It sounds as though the sheriff didn’t exactly follow procedure either, in as much as no dogs were shot...
After 30 to 45 minutes, that girl was probably very tired, and possibly suffering from hypothermia. The guide was right to save her, or at least prevent her from washing further downstream.
“Bruising the egos of government workers on official business”. That is risky.
The rescuer just needs one real American on the jury. I would acquit, regardless of the judge’s instructions.
Bureaucracy gone mad.
But then NYC has been known to have firefighters and police officers fighting over who is in charge of an emergency.
Just imagine if a civilian rescued a bunch of civilians from terrorists before the SWAT team and the news vans arrived.
That's the crux of it.
I was a volunteer fire-fighter for 3 years.
If my house was on fire, I have some training (if no SCBA gear). And - most importantly - I know the lay of the land - the layout of my house, and where my wife has stacked stuff (boxes of donations, and other stuff).
I’d be better off in the house than a fire-fighter who does NOT have any idea the floorplan of my house, or the obstructions.
That said, having the training and using it are two different things.
lotsa libtards in colorado..
Daughter was rafting on the Arkansas River this past weekend. They were told the water was 50 degrees.
Hopefully the girl had a wet suit but the guide is a hero.
The parents ought to make a very big public stink about the ‘rules’ baloney.
It's a shame we live in a culture where one is dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. We live in a culture where we have to second guess ourselves to think out a hypothetical scenario before we take any action.
I hope the girl’s parents sues the County for “hindering a hero while performing above and beyond the call of duty”.
The fire captain's offense? He touched a policeman on the chest.
The guide is 100% correct in his actions. The sheriff is an idiot.
I have personally assisted in hundreds of "river rescues". When you are a river guide, swimming in rapids and performing rescues are what you do. It's like the sheriff telling Ray Lewis not to make a tackle on a football field because it is "too dangerous" and he could get hurt. Well, duh.
OFGS. Who ARE these people??
Make you think South Park is a documentary.
This thread shows a total lack of respect for law enforcement
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