Unidentified rescuers apprehended a man accused of placing a dead fish in an Oregon house featured on “The Goonies” from bad water Friday, officials said.
Astoria police in Oregon said in a statement that the man, later identified as Jericho Labonte, 35, of Victoria, British Columbia, was taken into custody Friday after being identified by multiple people.
Police said officers began pursuing Labonte on Wednesday after receiving a report that he posted a video on Facebook of him placing dead fish on the porch of a residence. The house is named after “The Goonies”, Steven Spielberg’s 1985 boyhood adventure film in which the house appears.
The US Coast Guard shared a video Friday showing the dramatic rescue, police said, after authorities learned the boat in the video was stolen and the person rescued was believed to be Labonte.
Astoria police said Labonte was wanted on charges of theft, endangering another person, unauthorized use of a vehicle and criminal mischief. Astoria Police Chief Stacey Kelly said some of the charges were from pre-existing cases in British Columbia, according to the Associated Press.
The Coast Guard said video of the rescue aboard a US Coast Guard helicopter showed a man, later identified as Labonte, alone on the 35-foot vessel, which made a mayday call and took on water. Had been. A rescue swimmer is seen cutting swiftly through the rough seas towards them, until a wave approaches, overturns and the boat capsizes.
According to the video and Coast Guard statements, the rescue swimmer climbed over the head of the wave, came under it and emerged to grab the suspect.
The agency said a helicopter crew lifted the two to safety.
Later in the day, police were informed by the Port of Astoria’s chief of security that the rescue vessel had been stolen from the port. Police said several residents also said they identified the rescued man as Labonte.
By the time Labonte was identified as a suspect, police said he had been released from Columbia Memorial Hospital.
Astoria police said late Friday that officers later arrested him at a warming center for people in need of shelter in Seaside, Oregon, about 17 miles south of Astoria.
Attempts to reach Labonte were unsuccessful.
(2/4)…who launched motor life boats from STA Cape Disappointment, the air crews arrived on scene to find the vessel floundering in the surf! The surf made rescue by boat dangerous, so the aircrew decided to lower the rescue swimmer and have the owner enter the water for rescue… pic.twitter.com/z92WvzpTG9
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) February 3, 2023
The rescue took place about 6 miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River off the Oregon coast, according to the Coast Guard. Federal forecasters said sea heights off the coast were measured as high as 20 feet on Friday.
The brave rescuer was identified late Friday as Aviation Survival Technician Third Class John “Branch” Walton. The agency said it was his first life saved as a rescue swimmer and he graduated from the Coast Guard’s Advanced Helicopter Rescue School later that day.
Astoria, a city on the Columbia River, is about 100 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon.
A Kansas City entrepreneur bought a Victorian “Goonies” home in downtown for $1.65 million in December, keeping his identity a secret until the deal closed in January, NBC affiliates King of Seattle and KGW of Portland report. The latter described buyer Behman Zakeri as a ‘Goonies’ “superfan” who intends to preserve the property as a place where other fans of the film can go and take selfies.