Authorities search for man who refused assistance in waters off Rincón

A 9-1-1 Emergency System call received on Wednesday afternoon reported that a person had been swept away by the current off Lala Beach in the Pueblo neighborhood of Rincón.

By THE STAR STAFF

Authorities were searching off the coast of Rincón on Thursday for a man who was caught in a riptide and did not want to be rescued Wednesday.

According to the police report, on Wednesday afternoon a call was received through the 9-1-1 Emergency System about a person who had been swept away by the current off Lala Beach in the Pueblo neighborhood, behind the Rincón Credit Union.

Emergency management personnel, Rincón district personnel and members of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau’s United Forces of Rapid Action Maritime Unit of Aguadilla, aboard the Cobra 54 vessel, arrived at the site, where the man reportedly refused to receive the necessary help from the authorities.

Lt. Juan González Rivera threw a life preserver in an attempt to rescue the individual, to no avail. González Rivera then went into the sea in an effort to help the man, but failed as the man, identified as Edward Trowbridge Herbert, 48, a resident of the Sierra Maestra sector of the Cruces de Rincón neighborhood, went under.

González Rivera was rescued by the captain of the vessel, agent Jessie Torres, and transferred to the Añasco Diagnostic and Treatment Center.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Unit of Añasco conducted a search along the coast to locate the man, but the search was unsuccessful as of press time Thursday.