Police arrest dive shop employee?!
From Keynoter, a Florida newspaper:
An Ohio woman remained in critical condition at Mariners Hospital in Tavernier at press time Tuesday, after a Saturday dive accident off Key Largo.
Kendra Conrad Motter, 40, of Canton, Ohio, was stricken while near the end of a dive from a boat based at the Horizon Divers operation.
She reportedly fell unconscious and was raced to shore. At one point, she was breathing only with assistance. Further details on her condition, beyond its description as “critical,” were not available.
Motter is an adjunct instructor in medical-information technology at Stark State College of Technology in North Canton. She was scheduled to begin teaching classes for the new term Tuesday, a college spokeswoman said.
Investigation of the incident took an unusual turn when Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested dive-shop employee Michael Ryan, 53, on several counts after he reportedly tried to tamper with Motter's equipment.
Ryan, who identified himself as a dive instructor, was charged with a felony count of attempting to destroy evidence and a misdemeanor count of obstructing a law enforcement officer. He also was charged with resisting arrest, but the level had not been determined.
A call to the owner of Horizon Divers was not returned Tuesday.
“Instead of giving the equipment to Deputy [Julie] Smith, he walked with it to a hose and began to hose it off,” Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin related. “Deputy Smith ordered him to stop immediately.... Ryan reportedly ignored her orders and continued to rinse the equipment.”
