By MARK TODD - mtodd@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon
CONNEAUT —
A trip to Lake Erie with friends turned tragic Tuesday night for a 19-year-old Ashtabula man.
Joe Lathan, 6308 Bardmoor, drowned in Conneaut Harbor after he reportedly jumped into the water from the harbor’s lighthouse, officials said. Extensive efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at UH-Conneaut Medical Center at 9:35 p.m., said Richard Mongell, chief investigator for the Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office.
An autopsy will be performed in Cuyahoga County to verify the cause of death, Mongell said.
“He reportedly went under and never came up,” he said. “We want to make sure he didn’t hit his head.”
No signs of trauma were immediately apparent on the body, Mongell said.
Firefighters received the call at 8:08 p.m., according to reports. The rescue service’s airboat made the mile-long trip to the lighthouse in six minutes and a diver on board found the victim in 22 feet of water less than two minutes later, said Lt. Ryan Tattrie.
“I was very happy with our response,” he said. “We could not have responded better.”
Resuscitation efforts began in the airboat and continued en route to CMC, firefighters said.
Friends reportedly called for help when Lathan failed to surface, Mongell said.
“Evidently, they were jumping off the lighthouse,” he said. “(Lathan’s) friends said he wasn’t a good swimmer.”
The victim’s father, Darell Lathan, said his son was a kindly youth willing to lend a hand to friends and neighbors.
“He would help out anybody,” he said. “He would cut grass for people and shovel their driveways. He was a good person and always upbeat all the time.”
Lathan, who has a brother and three sisters, was attending school at and played football for Lakeside High School, his father said.
Darell Lathan said his son enjoyed going to the lake but usually visited Walnut Beach in Ashtabula. The trip to Conneaut was only his “first or second time,” his father said.
In the meantime, Darell Lathan is anxious to learn more about his son’s death.
“He dove down and maybe hit his head. I don’t know,” the father said. “His friends tried to dive down and find him, but they couldn’t.”
Despite the dangers, young people have been jumping off the lighthouse for years, officials said. The potential for problems is very real because of the beacon’s remote location, said Jon Arcaro, Conneaut’s public safety director. Cellular telephone service in that area is spotty, and time is needed for firefighters to reach the lighthouse, Arcaro said.
“People need to realize it can be a dangerous situation,” Arcaro said.
Tattrie agreed. “It can be difficult for us to get to (a victim) in a timely fashion,” he said.
The lighthouse, built in the 1930s, is under the care of the U.S. Coast Guard. Lighthouse jumpers have been a concern for many years, said Executive Petty Officer Kevin Morron, of the Ashtabula Coast Guard station. Protecting the lighthouse from trespassers is extremely difficult, he said.
The lighthouse sits at the end of the west harbor breakwater, and a gap in that wall has helped keep visitors at bay. In recent years, however, water levels in the harbor have dropped, allowing some people to wade out to the light.
Coincidentally, rescue agencies across the county practiced a water rescue-recovery scenario involving the lighthouse on Sunday. Plans and procedures resulting from that exercise helped expedite the recovery of the victim, Tattrie said.
On Tuesday night, one diver — per the plan — entered the water and descended to 22 feet, firefighters said. He made one sweep of the south wall, moved out a few feet and was beginning another sweep when he found the victim, according to reports.
The Ashtabula County Water Rescue Team was dispatched to the scene, but the quick recovery of the victim meant team members didn’t have to enter the water, firefighters said.
