Man Drowns in Susquehanna River While Trying to Swim to Party
posted 12:51 pm Tue September 04, 2007 - Harrisburg
Rescuers pulled the body of 27-year-old Christian Yanez from the river Sunday morning. Police say Yanez and a friend were drinking downtown when they heard about the party.
Police say the last boat of party-goers had already left for the island, so Yanez and his friend attempted to swim there instead. Police say the friend had a life preserver, but Yanez could not reach it in time.
The Dauphin County Coroner's Office will perform a blood test on Yanez to determine whether he was intoxicated.
Police say more than a thousand people were at the party on McCormick Island. Mayor Stephen Reed says it was an annual Labor Day weekend event that's been going on for several years and is not sponsored by the city.
Police arrested more than 80 people at the party. They say there were lots of drugs and alcohol as well as children as young as 13 years old.
"We've probably taken 100 people off the island by boat," said Police Chief Charles Kellar. "They are gonna be cited with park violations. We made multiple alcohol arrests, made some drug arrests."Reed said the city had to call in several off-duty officers for the investigation because on-duty officers were working at the city's Kipona festival.
The lead organizers, a couple from San Diego, California, are charged with 127 counts of reckless endangerment. A judge set bail for 31-year-old Quincy Morton and his wife, 32-year-old Kirstin Tonja Swartz-Morton, at $75,000.
Some attendees say the event, billed as the "Seventh Annual Island Camp-out w/the DJs," was well organized and offered shuttle boats to and from the island.
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