Mayor-Elect Has Narrow Escape
– Photos by David Howell
BLUEFORDS BOTTOM – A fishing trip Thursday morning turned dangerous for Water Valley’s Mayor-Elect Larry Hart after he fell out of his boat.
Hart was fishing near Prophet Bridge on the eastern portion of Enid Lake when the accident occurred, and initial reports to emergency responders were that a fisherman was missing and his boat was going in circles in the lake.
The Panola County dive team was dispatched, as deputies from Lafayette, Panola and Yalobusha counties responded to County Road 395, which is in Lafayette County. The road ends at the lake’s edge, which is located in Yalobusha County.
Hart was able to swim to a tree in the lake, taking refuge as his boat was stuck at full throttle, traveling in circles.
After Hart was successfully brought to the bank, Officers with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks had to “wrangle” his boat, carefully driving alongside and strategically swinging a boat paddle to knock it out of gear.
“It took several attempts,” one of the officers told the Herald, adding the boat, a 14-foot john boat powered by a 10 horsepower motor, was moving pretty fast.
Hart did not suffer any injuries.
