A 30-year-old man died after he was sucked off his Jet Ski and into the roller dam near the 2500 block of Old River Road in Cedar Rapids Wednesday night. Witnesses said the man and a 36-year-old woman were riding separate Jet Skis on the Cedar River. The man got close to the dam several times and eventually was sucked under the current at about 7:45 p.m. “You could see the man come up and go back down a couple times, and then he just never came back up,” said Brett Rettenmeier, 20, who was fishing on the river. The female rider attempted to go toward the roller dam and jump into the water to help the man, but bystanders yelled for her to get out, said Cedar Rapids Fire Department spokesman Greg Buelow. She returned to her craft and went to shore. Firefighters who responded to the scene quickly realized they would be performing a river recovery instead of a river rescue because of how long the victim had been under the water, Buelow said. Firefighters launched boats from the Cole Street and Old River Road boat ramps for the recovery. They also positioned a 100-feet ladder and used equipment to retrieve the victim. The victim was wearing a life vest, but it could not help him because of the strength of the undercurrents, Buelow said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital. The Linn County medical examiner will perform an autopsy. Names of those involved were not released pending notification of family.
Roller dams have a recirculating current and anything drawn into the current is pulled under and barreled into a wall.
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