A 19-year-old Bronx, N.Y., man was in critical condition at Danbury Hospital on Tuesday night, after being pulled hours earlier from the waters of Squantz Pond in an area that has proven deadly to swimmers over the years.
Witnesses said Jarvell Ward began floundering immediately after jumping into the water from "The Rocks," a remote spot in the park located well outside the area protected by lifeguards. It is posted as off-limits to swimmers.
"I don't think he knew how to swim," said Shad Anglero, 23, one of more than a dozen people who accompanied the victim to the park. Most of them were making their first visit to the popular swimming and picnic area.
The near tragedy, which happened just before 2 p.m., came barely a week after the state DEP announced additional measures intended to enhance the safety of visitors to the park, where eight people have drowned since 1998.
Seven of them died in the same area as Tuesday's incident.
New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge said the victim was under water for about eight minutes before rescuers found him and pulled him back onto The Rocks, where they began CPR.
A visibly upset Hodge accused state officials of not following through on promises to protect park visitors, citing in particular the absence of a personal watercraft that could have brought rescuers to the scene in half a minute, instead of forcing them to run more than a quarter mile over boulders and fallen trees to reach the spot where the swimmer vanished.
"DEP promised upgrades and improvements, and they didn't follow through on any of them," Hodge said.
In addition to the lack of a watercraft, no DEP officers were in the park at the time, and there was no one handing out fliers to warn visitors about the number of drownings at Squantz and advising them to keep away from The Rocks, Hodge said.
"They should either protect the people or close the park down until they can," Hodge said.
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On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
