Boater, cops rescue woman trapped under vessel
A boater and two Lake County Sheriff Marine Unit deputies are heralded as heroes after rescuing a 55-year-old woman who was trapped under a capsized boat following a weekend accident.
Boater Jason Bathje of Spring Grove said he would hope someone would jump in the water if he was trapped under a boat like Brenda Schmid was Saturday night near the Dunn's Lake channel on Nippersink Lake on the Chain O' Lakes.
"I didn't even think about it, I just reacted," he said in a telephone interview Monday.
Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Christopher Thompson said Schmid disappeared after Mark Holmquist's 22-foot 1996 Crownline slammed into a 20-foot 2007 Crownline driven by David Caplan of Glenview at just after 6:30 p.m.
The older boat capsized, throwing Schmid, Holmquist and two unidentified passengers into the water. Holmquist and two others surfaced, but Schmid didn't come up, Thompson said.
Bathje, 30, said he saw the accident from his pontoon boat and raced over with a boatload of relatives to see the three people bobbing in about four feet of water.
"I asked them if everyone was OK, and they said Brenda didn't come up," he said. "So, I jumped and just started looking for her."
While others called 911, Bathje and another unidentified boater swam around the capsized boat hunting for Schmid.
"The boat was stuck in the mud on the bottom, so I had to reach through the mud under the boat and feel around for her," he said. "I found her near the back and pulled her through the mud to get her out."
He swam her over to waiting Marine Unit Officers Michael Shep and Michael Rompala who began CPR.
"She had no pulse and wasn't breathing on her own when she was pulled out of the water," Thompson said. "But after five minutes of CPR, her pulse came back and she started breathing on her own again."
Deputies took the woman to shore where she was flown to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Thompson said he didn't know her condition, but that she was upgraded from critical on Sunday.
"We are very proud of the efforts of marine unit deputies Shep and Rompala for their efforts to resuscitate Ms. Schmid," he said. "And, we certainly are extremely appreciative for the assistance of Jason Bathje, who located the woman in the water and brought her to the deputies."
Holmquist, 53, of Fox Lake, is charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol over the .08 state limit, and careless boating, Thompson said. Holmquist, who was taken to Centegra Hospital-McHenry, had a blood alcohol limit of .262, police said.
Caplan, 48, of Glenview, was also charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, Thompson said. Caplan's blood alcohol content was not available after he refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene, officials said.
Both are due in Lake County circuit court Oct. 9, Thompson said.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=314106">Alcohol may have played role in 2-boat crash on Nippersink Lake <span class="date">[8/17/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=314081">Boaters hurt on Nippersink Lake near Fox Lake<span class="date">[8/16/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>