Man arrested for rescuing drowning girl

Originally posted by webpirate
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.

You know who is at fault here? You! All of us. We keep electing lawyers to amass new laws and guess what those laws inevitably get perverted just like this one.

You know what the purpose of "Obstructing Government Operations" was meant to be?

failure to identify, resisting arrest or search, evading arrest or detention, escape, bail jumping and failure to appear, violation of protective order, disorderly conduct, and hindering apprehension or prosecution

Did you fail to see saving a person's life when government authorities are on the scene or have been dispatched to the scene? I did. This is the same as Obstruction of Justice which is another nice catch-all law misused and abused by the police to suit all types of non-crimes. Its the "I don't like you law." Nice to see there is another one that they can use but again its our fault for not thinking the hundreds and thousands of laws on the book are never enough.

[edit on 13-6-2010 by ararisq]

[edit on 13-6-2010 by ararisq]

Maybe he wants to play the hero himself and upset when someone took his glory to a promotion. This arrest is totally unjustified!

To be Honest what he did was actually quite stupid. from my reading of the article it appears the girl was not in open rapids but actually on the side of the river. She was not an immanent risk to drown , so there was no reason to endanger both of their lives by attempting a rescue with out a proper safety system. that being said there is no way he should have been arrested.

By arresting the guy, the government is showing `who's on top`. In recent news with regards to the oil in the Gulf of Mexico, apparently, the government forgot that action speaks louder than words. And bureaucracy (redtape and pals) as we know it takes a long time to get anything done in both instances.

So are we to teach our children that being a `good Samaritan` is bad because the boundaries of the laws prevent people to do what is right (and sometimes without thinking of the consequences or common sense)?

[edit on 2010-6-14 by pikypiky]

Odds are this is nothing more then a case of a civilian outdoing the local law enforcement. Cops and "professionals" hate it when you can do thier job better and more efficient then them all while doing it using considerably less stuff then them.

There are national laws protecting Good Samaritans from being prosecuted.

Some laws do however state that if you move an injured person and it leads to an injury that you can be sued. We've become too much of a sue happy nation and that part really sickens me where everyone is all about them and not about someone else. Say, she died or was permanently injured the dude could've been locked up while the cops whose job it is to help do nothing and not have a thing get done to them. This double standard that protects law enforcement blindly, universally and unilaterately while stepping on those who honestly in their heart of hearts think they are doing something good just to get stabbed in the back by the very group who sat there and did nothing.

Saving someone's life should be mandatory and creditable towards public service record. I forgot the circumstances surrounding it but I did save someone's life just to get questioned for like 2 hours why I was in the vicinity.

If dude's got a clean criminal background he will never see the inside of a jail cell over something called a "PTI", or "Pre trial Intervention" which enables dude to skip jail in lieu he must spend like a year on probahtion, pay a fine.

Pirate,
In no way could he hinder it. Law enforcement never attempted to detain him. I hope the judge or prosecuter whose handling this case tosses the charges out and cleans the dudes record.

just shows where our world"s headed. i would jump in after her just out of empathy, i wouldn't want to be a tired scared girl holding on for my life. it don't matter how strong the current was, much longer and she could of become too exhausted, and downed.

now i ant no professional, but i am pretty comfortable swimming in a moving body of water, i do it all the time. if it was me, i would at least try. if i was her i wouldn't want to watch cops dinking around with my rescue, waiting for the professionals.



[edit on 14-6-2010 by quantumdragon]grammer

[edit on 14-6-2010 by quantumdragon]

[edit on 14-6-2010 by trailertrash]

Obstructing Government? Wow. I'm really afraid.


I'd have done the same thing and -uck 'em.

[edit on 14-6-2010 by trailertrash]

Whats gonna happen if Obama's "one world government" policy is enforced? are we gonna have this madness all-over the world? damn these are trying times... Cant even save a fellow human if the oportunity arises now? and on the other hand they're promoting people to rat out anyone seen doing something wrong... the governments got this all figured out dont they..
Just wonder what human relations will look like if their plans ever come to
fruition...

we'll have the nazi-neighbours to worry about all over again.

*officer, my neighbour just saved a child down the street from being hit by a car... GO ARREST THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS PIG*



[edit on 14/6/2010 by faceoff85]

Good news for the UK in todays news, and I hope the US follows suit. Fingers crossed they actually do something. Policemen watching folk drown belong to the world of fiction, not the real world.


www.dailymail.co.uk...

"Goodbye 'elf and safety: Cameron announces review of 'joke' regulations and 'compensation culture' "

I'm emailing that sheriff today. he sucks!

i totally dislike people that will stand by and watch another person suffer when they can easily be helped. i would not, nor have i stood by and watched someone in harms way, because i felt "the professionals are on the way...I CALLED THEM!"

that's the lazy mans hero

Trained or untrained ... this man is a hero who achieved what he set out to do.

So, kudos to him and a perfectly extended bird to the sheriff's department!!

I for one would have done exactly what he did and if I snuffed it in the process, so be it - sometimes things are not about self and the sooner more people can realize this, the sooner humanity will unite in peace.

Though off topic a bit and sadly perhaps even a moot point, I wonder what we can do the f#ckwits who are responsible for the gulf spill ... I bet they won't get arrested!!

Originally posted by ventian
Uggh disgusting. They are worried about liability or something I guess. Sorry but I would have done the same. I am not one to wait for government assistance though.

I would disagree somewhat. The liability issue is true to some extent, but it is used as a ruse too often these days.

It is all about authority and control.

Learn to be obedient, people! There is no need for you to think for yourselves! Individual actions are increasingly, expressly forbidden under the law. Especially, if you want to protest something. And even if it isn't, they will show you their displeasure. (See here via ATS the current You Tube video of the FBI visiting an Austin mother of five.)

[edit on 14-6-2010 by Aliensun]

Originally posted by minute2midnight
I hope the Sheriff drowns in a river.

"Help, I'm drowning!"
"Sorry, we can't help you, we might get arrested."

I hope the Sheriff drowns in a river.

B-e-a-utiful.

I was thinking the same thing.
Just stand at the shore, point, laugh.

Am I allowed in the water now oinky?!

reply to post by SerialLurker


As they say mate No Good Deed Goes Unpunished and its absolutely right in this case!!!

I read the article and on the surface this appears to be punishment for non-compliance. It looks like the guy didn't defer to the cop's authority and instead went ahead, performed his duty and rescued somebody who likely would've drowned if he didn't.
It really does seem like he's being punished because he didn't do what he was told.
Scary stuff.

If I'm ever downing, I hope a trained professional performs the rescue rather than cops. Mainly because cops aren't properly trained in such matters and with them performing the rescue there would be a far higher chance of failure.

reply to post by webpirate


I haven't read through all the pages, but after reading the OP, I believe I would wear that arrest with honor! I would demand a jury trial, and I would demand to testify at how guilty I was.

Kudos to the rescuer. What a wonderful thing to be arrested for. We need more criminals like this one. I have seen other stories before where burglars stopped to rescue someone having a heart attack, and escaping convicts stopped to assist people in accidents.

The US has the craziest criminals! Or is the craziest laws? Or is it the stupidest cops? At any rate, I would love to disclose that arrest on my job applications!

Just how much sovereignty are we supposed to give up to this society we've created? It's no better in the EU than in the USA.

How could anyone sleep at night knowing they had let someone suffer and/or die as a result of doing what they were told? Just how obedient are we meant to be? To the point that we resign all self-determination and conscience to the authorities? As it is, we have to ask permission to do just any single thing we might like to. When we feel compelled by circumstances, are we really supposed to sit by and wait for the nod by those numpties that somehow have landed in positions of authority? Do they really think that their job somehow gives them superiority over all of humankind, given that it's within their jurisdiction, that is...?

Maybe we need to put the police (and others who are meant to serve the people) back in the position that they are here to protect us from the bad guys. They needn't feel compelled to hinder our natural ability to manage situations as responsible, skilled citizens.

Obstructing government operations? Sounds more like he completed government operations. I foresee charges being dropped, as nothing was obstructed in the grand scheme of things...except the girl's drowning.

It is not the duty of the police to protect you. Their job is to protect the Corporation and arrest code breakers. Sapp v. Tallahasee, 348 So. 2nd. 363, Reiff v. City of Philadelphia, 477 F.Supp. 1262, Lynch v. N.C. Dept of Justice 376 S.E. 2nd. 247.

Guess the hero was a code breaker

How much more evidence do we need that we live in a Police State?