Army Corps of Engineers park ranger charged in deputy’s boating death
ANDERSON, S.C Aug 7 2017 An employee for the Army Corps of Engineers is charged in the death of a South Carolina sheriff’s deputy who drowned during a training exercise.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources told local media outlets that 37-year-old Joseph Jess Fleming of Pendleton was arrested Friday and charged with reckless homicide by boat. He was released from jail on a $25,000 personal-recognizance bond. It’s not known if he has an attorney.
Department spokesman Robert McCullough said Fleming, a park ranger on Lake Hartwell, was operating a boat during the training on Lake Hartwell on June 1.
Fleming, Anderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Devin Hodges and a fellow deputy were thrown from the boat. Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore says Hodges drowned when his lifejacket got caught on a propeller, pinning him underwater.
AP
