EUGENE, Ore. — A man floating in the Willamette River was arrested after refusing rescue attempts. Eugene Police say Charles Eugene Miller has been charged with harassment, second-degree criminal trespass, interfering with a police officer, recklessly endangering and disorderly conduct.
The Register-Guard reports Eugene police officers and Eugene Springfield Fire emergency personnel responded to a 911 call of a man floating past Maurie Jacobs Park.
The caller, who was on his jet ski, was trying to rescue Miller, but the very large man struggled, purposely breaking free of the caller’s grasp.
Emergency responders tried repeatedly to rescue him until Eugene police officers grabbed him in the middle of the river and pinned him to a rescue boat.
Authorities say Miller was becoming hypothermic in the cold river. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation before taken to the Lane County Jail.
