By Henry K. Lee
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — San Quentin inmates helped rescue a man and woman early Wednesday whose boat had capsized near the state prison, but the man was pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said.
James Laurel, 44, of Larkspur and his companion left a dock on Corte Madera Creek in a 14-foot motorboat at about 10 p.m. Tuesday. Their boat soon developed engine trouble while on San Francisco Bay, authorities said.
At least one of the two had been drinking, Marin County sheriff’s deputies believe, and Laurel was not wearing a life vest. As he tried to restart the engine, he fell overboard, then tipped over the boat when he tried to climb back aboard, said sheriff’s Lt. Barry Heying.
The two drifted toward the state prison, where an employee on an observation deck heard faint sounds coming from the bay at about 1 a.m.
Members of the prison’s Fire Department, including minimum-security inmates who are part of the squad, saw the two about 20 feet apart in the water, washed up along a seawall because of the high tide. A staff fire captain and 10 inmates, including Sean Tiger, Derrick Edgerly and Robert Henderson, wrapped fire hose around the victims and hoisted the two over the seawall and onto dry land, said Lt. Sam Robinson, a prison spokesman.
Laurel was unconscious, and paramedics performed CPR en route to Marin General Hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The woman, who had been wearing a life vest, was treated for exposure and released. She has not been identified.
The inmate firefighters - most of whom were not firefighters before being sent to prison - are part of a 16-member squad that lives in a firehouse outside the prison’s secure perimeter, Robinson said. They are on call 24 hours a day. Inmates who have been convicted of violent or sex-related crimes are not eligible to be on the squad.
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