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A Roseburg man is in jail after riding a boat dock for miles down the rain-swollen South Umpqua River Sunday night, refusing help from authorities who were trying to rescue him. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says reports of the man floating down the river started to come in at 4:20 p.m. Deputy Todd Koberstein told News Radio 1240 KQEN that 59-year-old Larry Strain went outside behind a home on Neal Street in Roseburg to make sure his boats were securely tied to the dock. While he was standing on the dock, the structure gave way, sending the man and his boats into the river.Rescue personnel tried to reach the man after they put a boat into the water near the sewer plant in Roseburg. Strain was not cooperative according to DCSO. Koberstein says the man wanted rescuers to help push his dock and the boats to the side of the river, so he could get them to shore. With the fast moving current running at just under flood stage, officials with Douglas County Fire District Two and DCSO said that wasn’t a safe move.
As the situation continued, a crowd of onlookers began to assemble. As Strain passed under the bridge on Melrose Road near Kruse Farms, a woman believed to be his girlfriend tried to get his attention:
Eventually authorities pulled the first boat out of the water and launched a larger boat from River Forks Park in an attempt to intercept the man. By this time it was dark, adding to the danger of trying to rescue him. Around 6 p.m., Strain finally gave up and got into the second rescue boat upstream from Singleton Park. His dock and boats continued down the river.Larry Strain was charged with disorderly conduct and six counts of reckless endangering. Deputy Koberstein said the second charge came because of the six rescue personnel in the boats, whose lives were put in danger by the man’s actions.
Officials from several agencies assisted in the rescue situation.
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