It’s been quite a week for Victoria, B.C. native Jericho Labonte. On Friday morning, the 35-year-old Labonte was rescued by the Coast Guard after waves threw him off a yacht into the Columbia River in Oregon. That rescue effort saw a rescue swimmer enter the water to pull him to safety (as seen above), then a helicopter take him to Coast Guard Base Astoria. There, he was treated for mild hypothermia and then transported to a local hospital. But, later in the day Friday, the yacht Labonte had been on was reported stolen, and authorities revealed that they had been looking for him after he posted a video to social media Wednesday that saw him leaving a dead fish on the porch of the Astoria house featured in 1985’s The Goonies. On Friday evening, the Astoria Police Department announced that they’d taken Labonte into custody:
Here are some of the videos of the Coast Guard rescue of Labonte Friday:
(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
(4/4) All in all, it’s just another day for the Coast Guard men and women who spend their days #ProtectingThePNW
Photos and video by AET1 Kyle Turcotte pic.twitter.com/WNUnAe5OF5
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) February 3, 2023
As per Gene Johnson of The Associated Press, police officers had been looking for Labonte since Wednesday, but that wasn’t communicated to the Coast Guard until after Labonte left their custody. But the police department got him in the end, and revealed that he’s also wanted in his home province:
Officers had been looking for the man since Wednesday, when an acquaintance alerted them to a video he posted on social media of himself leaving the fish at the house and then dancing around the property, Astoria Police Chief Stacy Kelly said.
Kelly identified the man as Jericho Labonte, 35, of Victoria, British Columbia. Labonte is also wanted in British Columbia on criminal harassment, mischief and failure to comply cases from last fall, Kelly said.
…The yacht’s owner, who lives in nearby Warrenton, Oregon, reported the vessel stolen later Friday, the police chief said.
The hospital had already released Labonte when police saw the Coast Guard photos and video and realized it was the same person who they said covered over security cameras at the Goonies house and left the dead fish on the porch.
…Kelly didn’t know what kind of fish it was, but said police believed it was caught locally because after the video started circulating another person reported having taken Labonte fishing.
“It’s been a really odd 48 hours,” Kelly said.
An odd 48 hours indeed! And while Goonies never say die, perhaps don’t leave a dead fish at their house.
[The Associated Press; image from @USCGPacificNW on Twitter.]
