- Nov 24, 2000
- 4,787
- 103
this is from today's tulsa world .
Man drowns in river while fleeing police.
Officers chase him from a reported burglary, then try to rescue him in the murky water.
A burglar drowned Friday when he tried to escape from police by jumping into the Arkansas River with his pants pockets loaded with jewelry and while carrying his bag of loot.
The man was identified as Edward Jerome McBride, 37, Officer Lucky Lamons said.
Police were on the scene of a second-degree burglary in the 2600 block of South Boston Avenue within five minutes of the call going out at 10:40 a.m., Lamons said.
"When they got there, witnesses described the suspect and showed officers which way he ran," Lamons said.
Officer Bruce Ely saw the man running in an open field in the 2700 block of Riverside Drive.
"Officer Ely saw our suspect run across Riverside Drive and run down an embankment at about 2900 Riverside Drive," Lamons said. "Other officers arrived, and they began ordering the suspect to get out of the river, but the suspect continued carrying the bag and swimming farther from shore."
When he got about 40 yards from shore, he released the bag and began yelling for help. Ely and Officer David Pool took off their gunbelts, shirts and shoes and jumped into the river to rescue the man.
"As they were swimming toward him, the suspect started swimming even farther from shore," Lamons said. "Then he began bobbing down into the water. He was going down and then resurfacing as he swam farther away."
The officers then saw him go under and fail to resurface. They estimated that the man disappeared in 8 to 10 feet of water.
"As the officers attempted to save him, they lost sight of him, and both officers attempted to go under water but were unable to find him," Lamons said. "They said visibility was about 6 inches."
They yelled for officers on the bank to call the Fire Department at 10:51 a.m., Lamons said. Fire Capt. Hubert Rouse said firefighters arrived and launched two boats.
"We immediately went down to the spillway, and we had an idea where he would most likely be," Rouse said.
The firefighters used grappling hooks, thermal imaging cameras and poles to try to locate McBride.
"We were using everything we had to try to locate him very quickly," Rouse said.
Firefighters found him at 11:20 a.m. in about 8 feet of water. They also found stolen property from two houses and from a car in the duffel bag and McBride's cargo pants.
"The bag contained cameras, CDs, a CD player and some other items. It weighed about 55 pounds," Lamons said.
Police also recovered a "significant amount" of rings, necklaces and jewelry in his pants pockets, Lamons said.
Man drowns in river while fleeing police.
Officers chase him from a reported burglary, then try to rescue him in the murky water.
A burglar drowned Friday when he tried to escape from police by jumping into the Arkansas River with his pants pockets loaded with jewelry and while carrying his bag of loot.
The man was identified as Edward Jerome McBride, 37, Officer Lucky Lamons said.
Police were on the scene of a second-degree burglary in the 2600 block of South Boston Avenue within five minutes of the call going out at 10:40 a.m., Lamons said.
"When they got there, witnesses described the suspect and showed officers which way he ran," Lamons said.
Officer Bruce Ely saw the man running in an open field in the 2700 block of Riverside Drive.
"Officer Ely saw our suspect run across Riverside Drive and run down an embankment at about 2900 Riverside Drive," Lamons said. "Other officers arrived, and they began ordering the suspect to get out of the river, but the suspect continued carrying the bag and swimming farther from shore."
When he got about 40 yards from shore, he released the bag and began yelling for help. Ely and Officer David Pool took off their gunbelts, shirts and shoes and jumped into the river to rescue the man.
"As they were swimming toward him, the suspect started swimming even farther from shore," Lamons said. "Then he began bobbing down into the water. He was going down and then resurfacing as he swam farther away."
The officers then saw him go under and fail to resurface. They estimated that the man disappeared in 8 to 10 feet of water.
"As the officers attempted to save him, they lost sight of him, and both officers attempted to go under water but were unable to find him," Lamons said. "They said visibility was about 6 inches."
They yelled for officers on the bank to call the Fire Department at 10:51 a.m., Lamons said. Fire Capt. Hubert Rouse said firefighters arrived and launched two boats.
"We immediately went down to the spillway, and we had an idea where he would most likely be," Rouse said.
The firefighters used grappling hooks, thermal imaging cameras and poles to try to locate McBride.
"We were using everything we had to try to locate him very quickly," Rouse said.
Firefighters found him at 11:20 a.m. in about 8 feet of water. They also found stolen property from two houses and from a car in the duffel bag and McBride's cargo pants.
"The bag contained cameras, CDs, a CD player and some other items. It weighed about 55 pounds," Lamons said.
Police also recovered a "significant amount" of rings, necklaces and jewelry in his pants pockets, Lamons said.
