After saving swimmer, man gets taken to jail

Star-Telegram | 07/06/2005: "When Dave Newman waded out of the San Marcos River, he was exhausted. He had pulled Abed Duamni of Houston out of the swirling waters below Joe's Crab Shack and deposited him, safe and sound, on the far bank.

Then Newman, of San Marcos, was handcuffed, put in a university police car, taken to jail and charged with interfering with public duties. "I was amazed," Newman, 48, said after being released from the Hays County Law Enforcement Center on $2,000 bail Monday. "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."

Police from Texas State University -- which owns the dam and the land around it -- say Newman disobeyed repeated orders by emergency personnel to leave the water. His refusal hampered rescuers' efforts to determine who was in trouble, officials later said. An agitated crowd that had gathered to watch the rescue effort surrounded the police car and yelled at officers as they took Newman away, witnesses said.

Duamni, 35, said he had eaten lunch at Joe's Crab Shack on Sunday afternoon with some friends and decided to go for a swim. He said he did not see signs warning of dangerous currents near the falls at Spring Lake Dam. Duamni said he had jumped into the water several times, but after the last time, around 3 p.m., the current swept him toward the restaurant.

He said he was forced underwater and couldn't come up for air because he kept bumping into something. "I reached a point where I said, 'I'm dead,' " said Duamni, a mechanical engineer who was visiting from Houston. "There was nothing I could do. I thought, 'That's it. I'm over. I'm gone.' " But he eventually found an air pocket in a hole that had been used for a turbine in the old mill that now houses the restaurant.

Newman, who had been swimming in the river, said he saw Duamni get sucked under the restaurant by the river's current and swam after him. Newman said someone on the bank tossed him a rope, which he used to tie himself to the restaurant. He began to dive and eventually bumped into the distressed swimmer. "I had a foot in my face," he said. "I grabbed it and pulled. I pulled myself up and pushed him toward the light. I was just amazed that he was alive."

Newman said he pulled him under a waterfall and to the shore opposite Joe's Crab Shack. He said he could hear law enforcement personnel telling him to come back to the shore by the restaurant. According to the police report, Newman smirked and seemed annoyed by officers' requests. After about 15 seconds, he swam downstream to avoid the turbulence from the waterfall and then crossed the river to the officers, the report says.

The Rev. John Parnell, pastor of St. Augustine Old Roman Catholic Church in Fort Worth, was watching from the shore. Parnell said Tuesday that he heard an officer scream at everyone to get out of the way and out of the water. "I'm sure [Newman] could hear him over all the rushing water," Parnell said.

Newman "swims back across the river and the officer just cuffs him. They made him sit there in cuffs and in the heat for about 15 minutes," Parnell said. Witnesses were dumbfounded as officers took Newman to jail, Parnell said. "It was an absolute outrage," he said. "This guy jumps in and saves someone's life and the police show up and arrest him. It was unbelievable."

Newman said he initially ignored the order to leave the water because he thought he had felt Duamni under the water. "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.

"I came out as soon as was reasonably humanly possible." Duamni said he didn't understand why Newman was in handcuffs. "I said, 'What's the deal?' and the police said, 'He got you out,' " Duamni said. Bob Ogletree of San Marcos, who had helped pass Newman the rope used in the rescue, said he understood why emergency personnel wanted to clear the water. But Ogletree said he didn't understand why Newman, who appeared to be cooperating with officers, had to be arrested.

"Ultimately, I don't know, but it does seem terribly unfortunate and somewhat in poor taste to have taken this guy to jail," he said. Newman was charged with interfering with public duties and refusing a lawful order -- Class B misdemeanors punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

On Tuesday, emergency workers acknowledged that Newman helped Duamni escape drowning, but they defended the arrest. "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. However, he said, "We didn't know how many more were there or if there was somebody else underneath."

Meyer said Newman is unlikely to serve any more jail time. Meyer would not rule out the charges being dropped. "Anything is possible," he said. This wasn't the first time someone has been in danger at the popular San Marcos swimming hole. In April, 22-year-old Jason Lee Bonnin, a Joe's Crab Shack employee and Texas State University-San Marcos student, drowned after he and three other employees jumped from the restaurant into the river.

Since then, officials have been called five times to the area near the restaurant to help people out of the river. In May 1999, the university erected a fence to block access to the river. Later that year, the San Marcos City Council banned swimming on that section of the river. Newman, a corporate pilot, helped get the fences removed and the ban relaxed.

Staff Writer Alex Branch Contributed to This Report."