THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508180371
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
For a few terrifying minutes along the shores of Sandbridge Thursday, it appeared the worst had happened. A man was in the surf, barely visible in the heavy seas, and seemed to be sucked along by the swift currents.
No one could get to him. No one had a rope and no one appeared willing to jump into the roiling water. For fifteen minutes, police officers could do little more than radio for help and watch the man's progress down the beach.
Finally, a surfer braved the water, paddled his surfboard out to the man and encouraged him to come ashore.
Moments later, the swimmer stood on the beach, facing a crowd of curious residents and a horde of cameramen bored with covering a hurricane that never landed.
The swimmer, seeming stunned at the attention he had received, was arrested on the spot.
``The water wasn't that bad,'' he said in a barely audible voice.
The swimmer refused to give his name, but police identified him as John D. Stevens, 37, of the 2900 block of Sandfiddler Road, and a member of the military.
He was charged with swimming in excess of 50 yards offshore and was released on a summons. His court date is Sept. 26.
The surfer who swam to Stevens' side was Andy Howerin, a 29-year-old Norfolk resident who was sitting in his parents' Oceanfront cottage when a friend rushed in, screaming that a man was in the surf.
Howerin could hardly believe it. The surf was white, foamy, and agitated. Swimming was prohibited by city order. But his pal, Ed Spear, 35, insisted.
``I got up and looked out the window, and sure enough there he was,'' Howerin said. ``He just drifted by. I was going to jump in off the bulkhead, but Ed said it was too dangerous.''
With a crowd of people gathering along the shoreline and following the man south with the current, the two surfers hopped into Howerin's car, put their surfboards in the front seat, and slowly moved down the street trying to get to a position in front of the swimmer.
They managed this about 25 houses south of Howerin's at a clearing where previous storms had destroyed the cottages.
Howerin jumped into the ocean and paddled on his surfboard toward the swimmer.
Spear was stopped by a police officer, who did not want any more people in the water. In a minute, Howerin was face to face with the man.
``I asked him if he was OK and he said, `Yeah. I'm all right.' He could touch bottom there. He said he was swimming to a friend's house.''
After he was released from police custody, Stevens, a SEAL, said he was simply going for a swim.
He said he was out so far from shore because he was concerned about being swept into steel bulkheads that line the beach, some of which are jagged and broken.
``That's where it gets dangerous,'' Stevens said. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff color photos
A Virginia Beach police officer arrests John D. Stevens, 37, of the
2900 block of Sandfiddler Road, in the surf off Sandbridge Thursday.
Stevens was charged with swimming in excess of 50 yards offshore and
was released on a summons. His court date is Sept. 26.
John D. Stevens, a SEAL, slides into a police car in Virginia Beach
Thursday.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FELIX ARREST by CNB