Man, 35, rescued by the Coast Guard in Washington after a large wave washed over a wanted boat

A man who was saved by a Coast Guard rescue swimmer near the Columbia River on Friday was wanted in a bizarre incident in which police said he left a dead fish at the Oregon home, featured in the classic movie, ‘The Goonies’.

Officers had been searching for the man since Wednesday, when an acquaintance alerted them to a video he posted on social media of himself leaving the fish at the home and then dancing around the property, the Astoria police chief said. stacy kelly.

Kelly identified the man as Jericho Labonte, 35, of Victoria, British Columbia. Labonte is also wanted in British Columbia on criminal harassment, mischief and non-compliance cases from last fall, Kelly said.

In the afternoon, the Coast Guard shared stunning video of a rescue conducted a few hours earlier in which a rescue swimmer dropped by cable from a helicopter swam to a 35-foot yacht battling strong waves.

As the swimmer approached the boat, a large wave crashed into it, capsizing the boat and throwing a man, later identified as Labonte, into the water.

The swimmer, Petty Officer 1st Class Walton, from Greenville, South Carolina, caught up with Labonte and carried him to safety. The helicopter crew took him to the Astoria Coast Guard Base, where doctors treated him for mild hypothermia and transported him to a hospital.

The yacht’s owner, who lives in nearby Warrenton, Oregon, reported the boat theft later Friday, the police chief said.

The hospital had already released Labonte by the time police viewed the Coast Guard photos and video and realized it was the same person who they said covered up the security cameras at the Goonies’ home and left the dead fish on the porch.

Police were still looking for Labonte Friday night.

Kelly didn’t know what type of fish it was, but said police believed it was caught locally because after the video began circulating, someone else reported taking Labonte fishing.

“It’s been a really weird 48 hours,” Kelly said.

The mouth of the Columbia, the largest river in North America that empties into the Pacific Ocean, is known as “the graveyard of the Pacific” for its notoriously rough seas.

Jericho Labonte, 35, of Victoria, British Columbia, was identified as the man rescued. Labonte is also wanted in British Columbia on criminal harassment, mischief and non-compliance cases from last fall, Kelly said.

As the swimmer approached the boat, a large wave crashed into it, capsizing the boat and throwing a man, later identified as Labonte, into the water.

The swimmer, Petty Officer 1st Class Walton, from Greenville, South Carolina, caught up with Labonte and carried him to safety. The helicopter crew took him to the Astoria Coast Guard Base, where doctors treated him for mild hypothermia and transported him to a hospital.

The Coast Guard received the distress call from the yacht around 10 am Friday while conducting training nearby, Petty Officer Michael Clark said.

The mayday contained no information about the location or the specific problem, but the agency roughly triangulated the location of the vessel and crews from nearby vessels and a helicopter responded.

They found the yacht P/C Sandpiper taking in water in 20-foot seas, which means the height of a wave from the previous channel could be up to 40 feet, Clark said.

Walton, who recently graduated from the Coast Guard’s rescue swimmer program, was lowered from the helicopter by a cable. Labonte climbed to the stern and prepared to enter the water just as a huge wave hit the boat, throwing him into the waves.

The wave struck with such violence that the boat capsized completely and ended up floating upright.

The mouth of the Columbia, the largest river in North America that empties into the Pacific Ocean, is known as “the graveyard of the Pacific” for its notoriously rough seas.

The mayday contained no information about the location or the specific problem, but the agency roughly triangulated the location of the ship and the crews of nearby ships and a helicopter responded.

Officers had been searching for Labonte since Wednesday, when an acquaintance alerted them to a video he posted on social media of himself leaving the fish at the home and then dancing around the property, the Astoria police chief said. stacy kelly.

Walton said in an interview Friday that he planned to reach the man, submerge him in the water and hook him to a cable attached to the helicopter. Instead, the wave hit.

‘The wave threw me a bit. When I got on, I noticed the boat was pretty dilapidated,” Walton said.

He directed the helicopter to take him to Labonte after spotting him in the surf a short distance away. The force of the wave had nearly taken his life jacket off, Walton said.

A Kansas City businessman and self-described superfan of the 1985 cult classic bought the Oregon home made famous by the movie in January.

Behman Zakeri, 37, bought the $1.65 million property in Astoria, Oregon, in a bid to keep it as a sanctuary for the beloved family film.

“The reason I buy it is because of the community,” Zakeri said. ‘Someone has to be the caretaker, someone has to preserve the landmark. Someone has to keep it original and not be demoted.’