On Friday evening at 10:17 pm, officers of the Springfield Police Department responded to a report of a subject pushing a shopping cart down the West D bike path which was fully engulfed in flames. Officers arrived and found that the flames reaching roughly 12 feet in the air, were catching tree limbs and surrounding ground vegetation on fire.
The suspect, identified as 52-year-old Douglas Brian Bennett, noticed police presence and fled toward the Willamette River. With Officers close behind, Bennett jumped into the river and began swimming away from the river bank. Officers immediately requested the assistance of the Eugene/Springfield Fire Department and their rescue boat.
As officers paralleled Bennett on both sides of the river, Bennett slowly made his way across the River. At times officers lost visual contact with Bennett as he struggled to keep his head above the surface. When he arrived at the south end of the river, he was immediately taken into custody.
The Eugene/Springfield Fire Department rescue boat was in the water less than 10 minutes after Springfield Police Department’s request.
Due to the precarious location of the arrest, Eugene/Springfield Fire transported several Officers across the river to retrieve Bennett. He was then taken to Riverbend Hospital for symptoms of hypothermia.
In total, Bennett was in the water for 17 minutes. Once Hospital staff were able to restore his body temperature, he was lodged at the Lane County Jail on charges of reckless burning, interfering with Police, parole warrant for possession of meth.
When questioned about the fire, Bennett said “I guess I was just a little too high”.
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