'Safety is everything' as MSHP troopers patrol lake

WAPPAPELLO LAKE — The Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers who patrol Wappapello Lake each summer see their mission as twofold — educating the boating public and enforcing the state statutes.

“We’re not out here to give everybody a ticket,” Trooper Richie Walker said. “… We try to educate the boaters (but) we still enforce, write tickets.”

Walker said he understands the lake users are “working people who want to come and relax,” but “we want to them to do it safely and respectively.”

While patrolling the lake Saturday evening, Walker stopped a jet ski operator who was pulling a tube carrying two women.

Walker explained to the operator that he needed an observer or a mirror to legally pull the tube.

“One of you needs to jump on with him,” said Walker, who stressed their safety was his concern.

In addition, Walker found issues with the watercraft’s registration as it was registered in Arkansas, but the operator has lived in Missouri for 18 months.

Registration, he said, has to be transferred just as it would on a vehicle.

“All in all, he got educated that he needs a mirror and got a couple of warnings,” Walker explained.

Had Walker given the operator a ticket, he had the capability to do so as his boat, like a patrol car, is equipped with a mobile data terminal and printer.

As Walker was patrolling near the Redman Creek Beach a short time earlier, he had seen a child wearing her life jacket.

As Walker maneuvered his boat near the other vessel, he told the group he had something for the “little girl with the smiley face life jacket.”

Walker presented the youngster with a T-shirt as a reward for wearing her life jacket while boating and swimming with her family.

The shirts, he said, are good public relations and a good advertisement for the patrol.

The child, he said, might be wearing the shirt this winter when another child asks about it.

That positive contact, he said, also may help the child trust fire or law enforcement in the future.

Later in the evening, as Walker was idling through a group of boats near the dam, a child shouted out, “Thank you for my T-shirt.”

“You’re welcome,” shouted back Walker, who indicated the child was one he had seen earlier in the day.

Children under 7, explained Walker, are required to wear a life jacket while on the lake. Life jackets also are required for those operating a personal watercraft/jet ski.

“Safety is everything,” said Walker.

The bigger boats, he said, are to have a life jacket for everybody on board, as well as a throwable device, like a seat cushion.

While the life jacket may be stowed to and from the lake, but “once on the water, they have to be readily accessible,” Walker said. “They’ve got to be out.”

As Walker patrolled, he saw a passing boat, with its flag rasied, pulling a tube.

The flag indicates someone is in the water, but it is not required when someone is riding on a tube.

“If (the tuber) falls off or they stop to change people, from the boat to the tube, that’s when the flag needs to be up,” he said.

That information is among the material included in the boater safety education course that is required for any boat operator born after Jan. 1, 1984.

The course, Walker said, is required to operate a boat on the lakes of Missouri, as well as the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Anyone needing the course, he said, can contact the patrol and ask for its Marine Division. Walker, as well as Cpls. Richie Ayers and Shayne Talburt teach the course.

Walker, who is now in his second season patrolling the lake, said he made a number of arrests for boating while intoxicated and on warrants last year.

“This year, we’ve not really had that yet; it’s not been that busy,” Walker said.

Attributed to the diminished lake use has been the higher levels caused by spring flooding.

Wappapello is “just a little bit, 2 to 2 1/2 feet, over normal summer pool,” Walker said. “It’s a little bit high right now. (Traffic) has been a little bit slower due to the high water, cool temperatures with clouds and pop-up showers.”

The boat ramps have been limited because of the high water, with only a couple of launch sites, Walker said.

“Some do not want to drive further to put in,” he said.

The higher water, Walker said, has been nice as it has allowed boaters to explore some of the smaller coves since the water is deeper.

“It’s allowed people to spread out more,” said Walker, who indicated some areas only were accessible by boat.

But, because the water is up, the boaters “think they can run anywhere they want,” Walker said. “There’s always debris in the water.”

When the water is up or the lake rises and falls, Walker said, the logs and stumps may be gone or moved 50 to 100 yards away from their previous locations. That is why caution is so important, he said.

No matter the weather or lake level, Walker said, there always is a “fair amount of fisherman” on the lake.

According to Walker, Saturday was a pretty busy day as fireworks were to be shot off at dusk.

“Some people, this is the only time they’re out at this time of night,” Walker said. “They need to check their lights.

“They can do that anywhere, in a storage unit, at home, anywhere.”

As the sun began to set Saturday night, hundreds of boats began anchoring from the Redman Creek Recreational Area north toward Sundowner Marina and People’s Creek Recreational Area.

“It doesn’t look like as many (boats)” on the water for the fireworks this year, Walker said as he motored near the dam.

Positioned in boats closer to the gate house and Redman Creek were Cpls. Richie Ayers, J.T. Wilson ad Shayne Talburt.

Just before 9 p.m., Walker heard radio traffic regarding an “intoxicated boater in the pontoon boat nearest the spillway.”

It was further reported the person “may be struggling.”

Walker maintained his position since “one of the others are closer.”

“We get called in reference to an individual in the water near the spillway,” Talburt explained. “We make contact, and we end up having to take him out of the water.”

As the troopers are dealing with this man, Talburt said, he and Ayers have go back to the boat because one of its occupants was having a “medical issue.”

An ambulance is called and the person was evaluated at the boat ramp.

“While we’re checking on the medical victim, (the intoxicated subject) is actually assaulting Cpl. Wilson” and is taken into custody, Talburt said.

Austin M. Hurtman, 21, of Malden was arrested on suspicion of two counts of third-degree assault, fourth-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, peace disturbance, resisting arrest and failure to obey a reasonable direction of a highway patrolman.

“He assaulted the other people on the boat before we got there,” Talburt explained. “When we showed up, (Hurtman) was bleeding from his head.

“He got into it with the people on the boat and jumped in the water.”

Alcohol effects a person faster on the water than on land, Walker said.

The heat, sun, glare, rocking of the boat, vibrations of the motor, waves all have an effect.

That’s why it is important, Walker said, to factor in food, water and Gatorade while on the water.