This story came to my attention when I attended a wedding at the lake where it took place. Someone mentioned a crazy drowning that had happened the week before. My son and I had seen approximately 8 emergency vehicles headed for the area earlier in the week. Little did we know what had happened until the wedding guest began to tell us.

It seemed that a sheriff had tried to pull a car (which turned out to be stolen) over for speeding and was led on a high speed chase for miles on our rural 2-lane scenic highway. The man stopped at the lake, threw himself in, and tried to swim across to the other side but ended up drowning. The storyteller was especially dumbfounded by the fact that the lake has a very large BRIDGE over the dam, exactly where the man had stopped and jumped in. The sheriff could have easily driven to the other side to arrest his suspect.

Poor guy, that was the last "dam" mistake he'll ever make. You! Out of the gene pool!

Thanks for the consideration and the great website. Tammy

The story can be found here:

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/09/20/d3.cr.elude.0920.p1.php?section=cityregion

And here is a copy of the text:

Body pulled from lake at Leaburg Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2005

LEABURG - Lane County marine deputies recovered the body Monday of a man who fled from police in a stolen vehicle the night before and then leaped into Leaburg Lake.

The Lane County Sheriff's Office identified the man as Richard Keith Loomis, 20, of Springfield. His body was found about in about 8 to 10 feet of water downstream from where he was last seen about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Shortly after 8:15 p.m. Sunday, a reserve deputy tried to stop a green Oldsmobile Bravada on McKenzie Highway near McKenzie River Drive for speeding.

The driver did not stop and sped westbound on the highway, reaching speeds of 80 mph.

As the car approached Vida, it slowed to 20 mph.

At Leaburg Dam Road, the driver jumped out of the moving car and fell onto the highway, deputies said. He got up, jumped over the guardrail and into the lake, and attempted to swim across.

The vehicle had been reported stolen out of Eugene.

Searchers were unable to find the man Sunday night and resumed their search Monday.

Loomis' body was found about 1 p.m.

Submitted on 10/08/2005

Submitted by: Tammy Bryan
Reference: The Register-Guard 9/20/2005

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: Too Common
Tammy, I like the fact that you submitted a write-up along with the article (AND added some kind words as well! :-). People fleeing the law (and offing themselves in the process) is a bit too common, and is often motivated by desperation rather than stupidity. Maybe he was wanted on more serious crimes and didn't want to get caught over a stolen car. I will defer to my fellow moderators, but I think it will go down as too common. I do hope you'll submit again in the future!

Greg said:
Maybe Toss: Too Common
I'm going to give this a "Maybe Toss" rather than a "Definitely Toss" given the proximity of the bridge. But criminals on the run usually aren't thinking straight which is the reason we often toss them. Sorry.

Jack said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I shall both agree in part and disagree in part with my fellow moderators. While criminals killing themselves while fleeing from the law are normally too common for an award, the proximity of a bridge over the lake and the excellent writeup raise this above the usual "stupid criminal fleeing from the law" story. Thanks, Tammy.

Tracy said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I agree with Jack.... Normally, criminals fleeing do stupid things, but with the bridge so close, and the excellent write-up, I think this has potential!

Jorge said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Lacks a little bit of flair but I think its a contender.

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