An attendee of the WM Phoenix Open has been taken into custody after an ill-conceived plunge into a Scottsdale canal led to a dramatic rescue effort. The individual in question, Christian Maese, age 27, found himself treading water and then some, with local law enforcement having to extricate him from his precarious position last Tuesday. The incident occurred near Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard and Greenway Hayden Loop, Fox 10 Phoenix reports.
With disregard for the seven-foot-tall fence—adorned with enough barbed wire to deter any hopeful interlopers—Mr. Maese nevertheless found himself ensnared in the canal's uninviting grasp. According to AZFamily, five officers were needed to enter the waters and attempt to secure Maese's safety. Amid this effort, the rescue was complicated by two of the officers incurring injuries, prompting hospital visits for their minor wounds.
While the officers made several attempts to rally cooperation from Maese, the challenges were far from over. "It should be noted that as he was being lifted out, numerous commands were given for the defendant to reach out and grab an officers arm which he refused to do," court documents explained. "As his body was brought closer, he pulled away and made it more difficult to get hands on him," the statement obtained by Fox 10 Phoenix further detailed.
Following this aquatic debacle, Maese was whisked away to the hospital before finding his way into jail for a series of allegations: criminal trespass, aggravated assault, and resisting arrest, as per Fox 10 Phoenix.
