WATER-FOUL:
MARTIN COUNTY MAN FLEEING FROM ARREST BY COPS JUMPS INTO COLD TUG RIVER (AGAIN) IN ESCAPE ATTEMPT, NEARLY PERISHES FROM HYPOTHERMIA EXPOSURE
SUSPECT PULLED SAME (ALBEIT SUCCESSFUL) ATTEMPT AFTER RUNNING FROM POLICE BY SWIMMING ACROSS SAME SPOT ON TUG RIVER IN FALL OF 2023
THE MAN WHO RAN LIKE A DUCK…SWAM LIKE A DUCK…AND NEARLY FROZE HIS DUCK TO DEATH: BRETT WALLER (MUGSHOT PHOTO TAKEN ON JANUARY 23, 2024), 59, OF LOVELY, KENTUCKY; RAN FROM MARTIN COUNTY DEPUTIES WHO WERE TRYING TO SERVE AN ARREST WARRANT ON HIM, JUMPED INTO THE TUG RIVER & WAS FOUND AN HOUR LATER NEAR THE WEST VIRGINIA RIVERBANK SIDE BY A DRONE OPERATED BY MARTIN COUNTY 911 (PHOTO ON RIGHT), & HAD NEARLY SUCCUMBED TO THE VERY COLD WATER CONDITIONS.
The cross border towns of Lovely, Kentucky and Kermit, West Virginia witnessed an intense law enforcement and water rescue operation late Saturday night, March 2, when the man fled police and attempted a dangerous escape into the very chilly Tug River.
According to Martin County Sheriff John H. Kirk, the incident unfolded around 7:50 P.M., and culminated in the rescue of Brett Henry Waller, 59, of Lovely,KY., who fled as police were attempting to serve him with warrants at a residence on KY 292. As deputies closed in, Brett Waller made a desperate bid for freedom by jumping into the river.
Sheriff Kirk said his deputies, who were being led by deputy John C. Kirk, lost sight of Brett Waller approximately 300 feet downstream from the Hub Cline Bridge on the Kentucky-West Virginia borderline.
The operation saw assistance from numerous agencies, including the Martin County Sheriff Office, and Martin County District 4 Constable Bradford Castle, Kermit Police Department, Mingo County Sheriff Office, and West Virginia State Police; fire departments from Warfield, Kermit and Lenore; 911 personnel from Martin County and Mingo County; and the Martin County Department of Emergency Management.
The breakthrough came when Martin County 911 director Nick Endicott deployed a drone and located Brett Waller in the water near the West Virginia riverbank.
Emergency rescue personnel from the Kermit fire department and the Lenore fire department managed to reach Brett Waller and bring him out of the river.
Corey Marcum, one of the rescuers from the Lenore fire department, recounted the critical moments of the rescue, saying that Brett Waller was “way too weak to hold on any longer” when the rescuers got to him.
“As soon as I hit the water, he gave up,” Corey Marcum said. “Another two minutes would have been a different story.”
Following his rescue, Brett Waller was transported by Patriot Ambulance to a hospital in Paintsville, KY., for hypothermia evaluation.
Sheriff John Kirk expressed relief at the successful outcome, saying Brett Waller spent an hour in 40-degree water temperatures. He acknowledged the crucial role of the collaborative effort and noted his gratitude.
Sheriff Kirk stated Brett Waller would face additional charges from this incident alongside the original charges.
Brett Waller was eventually transported to and lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Center in Paintsville, being booked at around 2:00 A.M. Sunday morning, but was ap[prenntly too physically weak to appear in his mugshot jail photo.
This was not the first time Brett Waller resorted to using the Tug River to evade law enforcement. In October 2023, he fled police at the same residence on Riverfront Road, swam across the river and escaped to West Virginia.
Law enforcement caught up with Brett Waller on January 23, 2024, at the same location, arresting him on two counts of violating a Kentucky Emergency Protective Order/Domestic Violence Order and fleeing or evading police on foot from his October 2023 foot and swimming flight from justice.
