Jericho Wolf Labonte arrested after tampering with ‘Goonies’ house
This guy took the “never say die” spirit a little too far.
A suspected vandal left a stinking pile of fish at an Oregon house featured the 1985 movie “The Goonies” — and was caught days later when the Coast Guard found him fighting for his life after being thrown from a wave-battered stolen yacht, officials said.
Jericho Wolf Labonte — who allegedly tampered with security cameras at the famous house during his bizarre Feb. 1 prank — almost died on Feb. 3 when huge swells at the mouth of Columbia River capsized the heisted pleasure boat he had inexplicably taken for a joyride.
The huge whitecaps sent the 35-year-old tumbling into the sea, where he was forced to desperately swim, before Coast Guard rescuers went into the the 47-degree water and pulled him to safety.
He was then taken to a hospital for treatment of mild hypothermia — where authorities soon realized that he looked just like a man captured on video a few days earlier causing mayhem at the Victorian-style movie house in the town of Astoria, Oregon.
Cops recognized Labonte as the man who had covered security cameras at the famed “Goonies” house — which recently sold for $1.65 million — and had left fish on the porch, according to officials.
Labonte was arrested Friday night at a homeless shelter in the Oregon town of Seaside, where he had been staying “under an alias.”
He was charged with theft, criminal mischief, endangering another person and unauthorized use of a vehicle, police said.
The suspect was also wanted by Canadian authorities in connection with other unspecified crimes.
The spot where Labonte lost control of the stolen 35-foot yacht is a notoriously rough section of the river known as “the graveyard of the Pacific,” footage showed.
He was rescued by Petty Officer 1st Class Branch Walton, a rookie rescue swimmer from Greenville, South Carolina, who was dispatched by nearby crews conducting a training exercise, officials said.
“It’s been a really odd 48 hours,” Astoria Police Chief Stacy Kelly said Friday.
“The Goonies,” a Steven Spielberg film starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, and Corey Feldman that chronicles young misfits on a fantastical treasure hunt in Seaside, has achieved cult classic status over the years.
The home prominently featured in the coming-of-age picture was bought in December by a “die-hard” fan who wanted to preserve and protect the oft-visited site, according to The Oregonian.
“Of course, no one gets in unless they do the truffle shuffle,” the buyer reportedly wrote in his written statement, a reference to the humiliating belly blubber dance performed by Jeff Cohen’s “Chunk” in the film.
With AP wires
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