WILLIAMSPORT — A Clear Spring man who went over Dam 5 of the Potomac River in a personal watercraft on Monday didn’t heed warning buoys, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

After the fall, Ryan A. Myers, 22, got back on his watercraft and rode it some more, then walked back to where he and another male had gone in the river, Sgt. Ken Turner of the Maryland Natural Resources Police said.

Myers was flown in a state police helicopter to Washington County Hospital, but did not appear to have serious injuries, Turner said. Myers’ condition was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.
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Turner said Myers and the other male, whose name was not released, were riding separate personal watercraft in the river near Williamsport. Myers and the other male passed a set of warning buoys, then another set of buoys that mark a restricted area about 200 yards above the dam, Turner said.

Then, Myers and his watercraft went over the dam.

Usually, “at a minimum, you would be seriously injured,” he said.

But Myers swam to his personal watercraft and rode it farther downstream, before beaching it below Dam 5, Turner said.

Myers then walked about a mile along the C&O Canal towpath back to Four Locks, where he and the other male had launched, Turner said.

Police and ambulance crews were called to the river Monday night as emergency workers looked for him.

As of noon on Tuesday, no charges had been filed, Turner said

Dumbazz...

Yeah, I was listening to all this on the scanner last night after the boat and Special Ops apparatus went past the house. It's always a shame when there is an accident on the river. However, when you bring it upon yourself it's not an accident, it's just stupidity and you deserve what you get.

God protects fools, drunks, and children.

Which one was this guy, fool or drunk??

Maybe a Drunken Fool.

I would have thought alcohol consumption and subsequent charges would have been in the article, but then with our newspaper you never know.

Yeah, that was my initial thought too. But after it wasn't mentioned in the paper, I remembered... Some people are just born stupid!

I've been walking the towpath up at Dam #5 regularly for about the past two years, and when I look over at that cascade of water it always gives me a chill because I know a family died there a little while back when their boat went over. Does that happen very often, someone dying up there? And, this is probably a stupid question, but personal watercraft = jet ski, right? So it's not like he was in a little boat with a stalled motor, and the current carried him over. He actually drove right off of the dam, right? Wow.

Not a strategic move, buoys are there for a reason. Case in point.

The "man" in question is Leroy Myers' son. From what I hear, he's been in trouble for riding his jet ski too close to the dam before.

I wonder if he has a pair of nuts hagning off the back of his jet ski?

Considering the possible outcome of his little adventure, I wonder if he has HIS nuts hanging off the back of his jet ski.

IMO, local law makers son = no charges.

That's what I've been wondering, is there anything they can charge him with?

Not being a boater, I have no idea. I assumed that if you can be charged with boating while intoxicated, there were other water 'traffic' laws.

I thought about the BWI but if he wasn't drinking, I was just wondering if there was anything else.

Other than ignoring the buoys I don't think he did anything wrong.

Wow, he needs to review the driver's ed handbook. They covered this in class. Not a good idea, go inside fella.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvMCozMprjg

He should have to pay for the emergency response. Dam* irresponsible.

A good example of a spoiled kid. Can`t do no wrong.

I think the only law he broke was not obaying water safty warnings. I agree he should be made to pay for emergency responce costs.

At minimum he should have to pay those costs. There was a boat load (no pun inteneded) of fire and rescue apparatus sent on this call, staged from River Bottom in Williamsport all the way up to For Locks in Clear Spring, not too mention at least one State Police helo flying around as well.

Well, now I am impressed that the DNR followed through on this....

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaysto...amp;format=html

nobody ever answered my question...does anyone know how often people die from going over this thing? we've gone up there after heavy rains, and have watched the debris that's trapped in the current right underneath the dam, big barrels and branches that just get beaten over and over because the current traps them there. it kind of blows my mind that this guy didn't meet his end by being churned there. wouldn't pretty much everything that went over the dam end up getting pinned at the bottom?

oh, and second offense? if anyone needs the book thrown at him, it's this guy.

I have no idea how many people have died there. Getting trapped at the base of the dam would certainly be fatal because you cannot swim out of that. This is a common danger with any dam of that type, they are often referred to as drowning machines.

I think you can judge for yourself that many people have died by getting to close to the bottom of a dam.

Here are 2 of many articles on that subject:
article 1
drowning machine

I actually think the last person to die locally at damn was a few years back on the Antietam near Mt. Aetna Road. Unless I'm mistaken this specific circumstance hasn't happened on the river in a while. I guess this idiot was carrying enough speed on his watercraft to clear the damn with enough distance to stay out of the undertow.

golbblog, thanks for posting those links. That second article made me a little queasy (i have recurring bad dreams about drowning for some unknown reason). I know that a few years ago there was an accident at Dam #5 where a woman and at least two children died after their little boat went over it, but I never heard when the latest incident was before that one.

smokechaser, you cursin' fool. it's dam, not damN. or, the damn dam.

Well at least I now know what he could be citied for.



I say all he'll get is a fine.

Fun at Dam 4

http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=22801

Gee, idiocy must be contagious.

Those guys are as dumb as they come.
If you have ever been to the area they call Big Slack Water. You would have seen the warnings at the boat ramp of a damn ahead.
I saw the video this morning on TV 25. That basket from the State police chopper didn`t hit him in the head hard enough. I had a good laugh when i saw that.
They get NO pitty from me.

Actually the dam's you mentioned are not what Dam 4 and 5 are. The dam type you have in the article called a drowning machine is like the one at the power pllant in Williamsport. It's face cause the water to come back and traps you against it. 4 and 5 a vertical in nature. Tehy would have been in worse shape had the water been lower as the rocks would have been exposed.

Dam.