5 rescued from water after boat strikes buoy off Wareham coast
All five victims escaped with minor injuries, police said.
A boat struck a buoy off the Wareham coastline Monday night, sending five people into the water, but they escaped with just minor injuries, officials said.Wareham Police Officer James White is being recognized for safely bringing two of the victims to shore, while the other three held onto a buoy and waited for help, according to a police release.No charges have been filed in the incident, but state Environmental Police are continuing to investigate, according to Katie Gronendyke, a spokeswoman for the department.Police were sent to the area of 261 Great Neck Road “for a report of a loud crash and people yelling for help” around 8 p.m., according to Wareham police.A couple of officers saw two people in the water near Stony Point Dike on the Cape Cod Canal side while they could hear others yelling as well, police said.White put on a life jacket and jumped in the water with a throw ring, police said. He brought the two people in the water to shore.“Officer [Blaise] Lalli proceeded further down the dike to try and locate the other parties and determined that three additional people were clinging to a channel marker buoy,” police said in the release.Lalli also prepared to jump in to help the other three, but the officers discovered the remaining victims had the buoy to hold onto until help arrived, police said.Wareham Harbormaster Garry Buckminster and Lt. Justin Harrington of the Onset Fire Department used a Wareham Department of Natural Resources boat to pick up the three holding onto the buoy — the boat owner, Andrew Murray, was one of them, police said.Acting Wareham Police Chief John Walcek said White “risked his life.”“The individuals in distress were over a 120 feet from shore, coupled with the strong canal current, and darkness made the rescue of these two people miraculous,” he said in the release. “I am extremely proud of his bravery under adverse conditions.”
