# Arrest on Westwater



## durangloski (May 12, 2009)

Today we saw an arrest on Westwater today.(@ Cisco ramp) We understand a "crazed" man went past the ranger station without a permit. He was in a open "wallmart" type kayak. BLM pursued from the top and BLM Law enforcement pursued from the bottom. After making contact with the suspect , he was non compliant and jumped in the river to flee his imminent arrest. The rangers then tased the subject while he was in the water . They recovered him and the rest of the story is a mystery. 
Did anyone see this go down on ruby ? Does anyone know the back story ?


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## durangloski (May 12, 2009)

Related????????????

Body found in river near Loma launch

By Erin McIntyre 
Friday, July 21, 2017

Authorities pulled a body out of the Colorado River on Friday afternoon and are working to figure out more information.

A report from people recreating on the river just after 2 p.m. led officials with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and Lower Valley Fire Protection District to find a body in the river, west of the Loma boat ramp in an area called Bull Draw. It’s a stretch of the river located due south of Mack.

Mesa County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Megan Terlecky confirmed the body was pulled from the river and that investigators with the Mesa County Coroner’s Office were working to determine the gender, approximate age and identity of the body. She said at this time, “it does not appear, from our initial investigation, that this person was someone who was recreating on the river or was a rafter.”

An autopsy will be conducted to determine more information, including the cause and manner of death.


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## azpowell (Aug 14, 2014)

"The rangers then tased the subject while he was in the water"
if the rapids didn't kill him, the rangers sure tried their best....SMH..


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## T Bone (Sep 13, 2015)

Were any razorback chubs injured in the tazing?


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## mtncoops (Jul 24, 2017)

Long time lurker, first time poster.

Figured I could add a few details to this thread since I was on Ruby this weekend. A few members in my group rented a boat from Rim Rock; we launched from there around 1pm on Friday. As we pass Rattlesnake the sherriff and a few other official looking people zoom by in a skiff towards an approaching island, but get stuck prior to reaching said island. As the sherriff and crew work to free their boat, we see a guy standing on the left side of the island. Thinking somebody may need help we go river left. The sherriff's boat gets free and docks on the right side of the island. As we float next to the island trying to figure out what's going on, the stench hits us. We then approach the end of the island and we see the body, face down, shirtless, high sided on a log. He's definitely been in the water for a couple days. The guy we saw on the island was the one who had called the police and was waiting for them to arrive. We let him know the sherriff's boat is docked on the right side of the island. There is nothing else we can do at that point so we keep on floating while trying to process what we just saw. Back to this in a minute.

We get to Westwater around 11-1130 on Saturday morning and the ranger asks us to stay on the up river side of the ramp as we unload because they are launching a rescue operation. She also asks if we had see a guy in a yellow IK, solo, with no pfd on. We had not. I ask her about the body as well as yellow IK guy. She doesn't have any details about the body but said the IK guy floated past the WW boat ramp w/o stopping and mentioned something about being a free American and he can take his kayak wherever he pleases. That's the last I hear of him until reading this thread. I figured he would be picked up bobbing down WW or would make it to Moab and become a local legend. I'm glad I received some closure on that one. 

Fast forward an hour and we are back at Rim Rock. We're unloading the rented boat and chatting with one of the employees. We tell him about the corpse and he gives us his hypothesis. (Full disclosure - I cannot validate, confirm, or deny what he said.) He said a guy was running from the cops about 3 days prior, drove to the Loma ramp, and jumped in. The police searched for him but didn't find him. Assuming that is correct, it very well could be the same guy. Hopefully the full story hits the news wire once they get it all figured out.

Keeping my fingers crossed that future trip reports go back to the more lighthearted side of the spectrum.


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## mtncoops (Jul 24, 2017)

Looks like the initial thoughts on who this guy was were incorrect. Here is the latest.

Coroner: Body of man found in river near Loma identified | GJSentinel.com


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## soggy_tortillas (Jul 22, 2014)

durangloski said:


> Today we saw an arrest on Westwater today.(@ Cisco ramp) We understand a "crazed" man went past the ranger station without a permit. He was in a open "wallmart" type kayak. BLM pursued from the top and BLM Law enforcement pursued from the bottom. After making contact with the suspect , he was non compliant and jumped in the river to flee his imminent arrest. The rangers then tased the subject while he was in the water . They recovered him and the rest of the story is a mystery.
> Did anyone see this go down on ruby ? Does anyone know the back story ?


We were at the takeout when that happened as well. Some guy in another group had the audacity to ask the ranger if he could take a picture to post it on mountain buzz.

SMH


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## 346XP (Jul 23, 2017)

*picture*

well? lets have that photo.


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## daairguy (Nov 11, 2013)

So was this guys death a direct result of getting tased in the river?


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## durangloski (May 12, 2009)

The dead person on Ruby was not the person getting tased. The person getting tased is the ass clown "Free American" that ran Ruby and Westwater without a permit. I am not a conspiracy theorist, however they did want pictures taken (formentioned) and I have called 4 law enforcement agency's in the controlling area and nobody can give me a straight answer. WTF.... 
We need Jack Ryan


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## ColoradoDave (Jun 3, 2010)

Jack Ryan would say publish the pictures into the public domain then and let the truth be known by all. Somebody here or some sticky thread knows how to do that.

Maybe others seeing the pictures and more story can solve the WTF.


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## daairguy (Nov 11, 2013)

durangloski said:


> The dead person on Ruby was not the person getting tased. The person getting tased is the ass clown "Free American" that ran Ruby and Westwater without a permit. I am not a conspiracy theorist, however they did want pictures taken (formentioned) and I have called 4 law enforcement agency's in the controlling area and nobody can give me a straight answer. WTF....
> We need Jack Ryan


So this guy in a "walmart" type kayak ran the rapids successfully? Or was that a shit show too?


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

*Nobody got tased*



daairguy said:


> So this guy in a "walmart" type kayak ran the rapids successfully? Or was that a shit show too?


The BLM rangers who launched from the ranger station contacted the gentleman in the wal mart lake kayak at Upper Cougar bar. He rode in the BLM boat until they contacted Law Enforcement below the rapids, where he jumped in the river in an attempt to escape arrest. He was threatened with the taser if he didn't get out of the river, he complied and was taken into custody. He had outstanding warrants in addition to his Westwater "transgressions"


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

Thanks for setting the story straight, Marshall.


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## ColoradoDave (Jun 3, 2010)

So, What's the claim to the Marshall moniker? Profession or First Name ?


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Name, the US Marshal is only spelled with one "L"


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## pinemnky13 (Jun 4, 2007)

Fucking Griff



Call me something other than Dumas


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## Big Waves (Mar 7, 2017)

durangloski said:


> Today we saw an arrest on Westwater today.(@ Cisco ramp) We understand a "crazed" man went past the ranger station without a permit. He was in a open "wallmart" type kayak. BLM pursued from the top and BLM Law enforcement pursued from the bottom. After making contact with the suspect , he was non compliant and jumped in the river to flee his imminent arrest. The rangers then tased the subject while he was in the water . They recovered him and the rest of the story is a mystery.
> Did anyone see this go down on ruby ? Does anyone know the back story ?


Hey just built a podcast episode on this story. 


https://open.spotify.com/episode/0FNUKqaJRksfEtwOnTKvJ3?si=40IAJ6OvQy-zQYR_rJUL7A


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## DidNotWinLottery (Mar 6, 2018)

That section of river has some fun events...How many plane crashes?


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

2 that I can think of, but above westwater...


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