St. Pat's partier jumps in Savannah River, is tased by police — and so is his brother

Two brothers were struck with Tasers on Saturday after one of them jumped into the Savannah River and was pulled out by police, according to video posted by a witness on Facebook.

Weston James Patrie, 22, and Luke Raymond Patrie, 19, both of Marietta, Ga., were arrested about 4:30 p.m. on two misdemeanor charges — swimming prohibited in certain waters and reckless conduct — plus the felony of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers by use of threats or violence, according to the arrest log of the Chatham County Sheriff's Office.

There was no indication in the video that Luke Patrie jumped into the water.

"The preliminary report I got was that one jumped in the river, and as they were attempting to cite him for that violation, his friends got involved, and that led officers to take necessary action," Savannah Police Chief Mark Revenew said in a news conference on Sunday.

In the video, a shirtless man can be seen running toward the water. As he pauses at the edge of the pier, someone shouts, "Do it! Do it!" and cheers erupt as he splashes into the river.

He swims to the riverbank, runs along the edge of the water and then jumps back into the water. Soon, he heads back to shore again and, there, police are waiting for him.

Two officers lift the man onto the ledge at the bottom of a staircase, the video shows. As the officers are walking him up the staircase, he appears to strain against the railing and swing his arms. As the video moves to show the crowd, the snap of a Taser is heard, and someone in the crowd says, "Oh, they just Tasing that (expletive)."

The crowd's noise swells as the video shows a second man on the ledge being shocked with a Taser by an officer.

Both men were put into a law enforcement boat and taken from the scene, the video shows.

Krin Patrie of Marietta said her younger son was trying to get police to stop Tasing his brother for medical reasons.

Weston Patrie had been diagnosed with a heart condition less than a week before, she said.

She said her elder son was brought to a local hospital before bring transferred to the Chatham County Detention Center, where he awaiting a bond hearing on Monday afternoon along with his brother.

"I'm not blindly defending them," she said, explaining that she was worried about her son's health.

"I wish my boys were not so adventurous. I get very nervous for them, but I think they are safer in double-head high waves or jumping off a cliff then they are in the hands of three policemen. This makes me very sad because my uncle was a wonderful policeman, and these three could not handle an unarmed teenager and 22-year old," she posted.

A photo on her Facebook page showed her sons jumping from a cliff in the Virgin Islands, where she said they grew up.

Another 22-year-old had been arrested earlier in the day for jumping in the river, according to the Sheriff's Office's booking log. Gavin said he, too, is from Marietta.

The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette do not name those charged only with misdemeanors.

Savannah has a city ordinance that makes swimming in the river illegal.

Savannah holiday arrests

The three men were among 29 people arrested in Savannah over the two-day holiday festival, city officials said. That's down from 54 last year when the festival stretched over three days.

Michelle Gavin, spokesman for the city, said at the news conference that 249 parking citations were issued, 38 vehicles towed and 500 warnings were handed out.

Code enforcement officers issued six citations to people urinating in public, Gavin said.

"They said they would have doubled that number, but another six or more ran from them," Gavin said.

One person was arrested for punching a Savannah Police Department horse, she said.

The Savannah Police Department’s Alcohol Beverage Compliance Unit cited 17 businesses for furnishing alcoholic beverages to a person under 21 and one business was cited for over serving, according to city officials.

This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 1:27 PM with the headline "St. Pat's partier jumps in Savannah River, is tased by police — and so is his brother."