I didn’t see anything in the story that stated if anyone was trying to talk to him or not. I’ve been in a few brouhahas and have been thinking about the difficulty in forcing a 300 pounder out of the water when he doesn’t want to go. The only thing I can think of right off hand is pepper spray or tossing a rope around him and dragging him in. I don’t know of too many cowboys in a Calif FD or PD that carry a lariat and are handy with it.
I agree handling a 300 pounder on land is bad in water it multiplies the problems..
Possibly it is bad reporting,but from the article i get the opinion they did nothing.
As i said it is a island,thousand of boats around,to say they did not have a boat is a lame excuse,they could have at least got near to him in a boat and had a chat.
300 pounds, eh? They could have floated a trail of Twinkies out to him and lured him back to shore.
Seriously, though, the water wasn't deep and if he'd physically resisted rescue and they couldn't overpower him, they could have just waded back. They didn't even try.