Jet ski incident leads to arrest on Niagara River

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Jason Haist spent Monday night in his own bed, but the feeling of being detained in a United States jail cell haunted him while he slept.

The Scarborough resident said he had a dream where he felt like he was in a cell again the night he returned home after being detained in the United States for two days.

The nightmare began Saturday afternoon as Jason was jet skiing with his cousin Edward Haist and some friends in the Niagara River near Queenston-Lewiston when he fell off the jet ski.

It was about 7:30 p.m. when his cautious approach to the rapids on the Niagara River caused him to be thrown from the craft and in to the swirling water.

"I remember flying off and them not seeing me," Jason, 28, said Tuesday afternoon in an interview at his Scarborough townhouse.

The details are a little fuzzy, but he remembers going under and swallowing a lot of water. Edward went back to try to help him, but Jason was too weak to hoist himself onto his cousin's jet ski so instead he dragged him to a rock just off the shore.

"It was about getting him to safety," Edward said.

Jason was having problems breathing.

"I couldn't see straight. My head was tingling and I knew I was going to pass out," Jason said.

A tour boat that operates in the river approached and asked if the men needed help. People used the speaker system on the boat to tell Jason what to do and that help was on the way.

The men said Canadian authorities arrived on a boat first to take them to shore, but the U.S. Coast Guard took over and brought Jason to an ambulance waiting in Lewiston, New York where he was transported to hospital.

Meanwhile Edward was brought to the border patrol offices where authorities gathered information. He learned he was being arrested after reading it on a piece of paper left on a table.

They were charged with failure to report on landfall in the United States. Jason was taken into custody upon being discharged from the hospital at 3 a.m. Sunday morning.

"I was in shock," he said. "I couldn't believe it."

They spent the night on the floor of a cell at that office, trying to get some sleep while sitting back to back to stay warm.

They were worried. Several guards told them they could be detained for weeks because of the backlog in the system.

"When you don't know, that's the scariest part," Jason said.

Sunday morning around 7 a.m. a guard escorted them to the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia.

He bought them breakfast first. "A lot of people were really nice," Edward said. "It's the system that has problems."

It was here they were given jail uniforms and Edward was able to change out of his wet suit, Jason out of his hospital gown. They said they were processed from a holding cell and then put into the general population that included murderers and gang members.

"At first we walked in and it was overwhelming," Edward said.

They tried to stick together and calm each other down. They prepared themselves for weeks, or even months of this.

"We were planning for the worst," Jason said.

After another night spent behind bars, they woke up Monday to see they had become famous. Their tale was in the Buffalo newspaper so they figured it had to be in the Canadian media back home. When he knew he was going to be arrested, Jason contacted his partner Catherine Kerr to alert the Toronto media.

"We had a little hope (after seeing that)," he said.

They were to appear in a closed hearing before an immigration judge, but instead their deportation officer said he would try to get them out as quickly as possible. What was to be a visit by Kerr ended with her taking the two home.

"The whole jail went nuts and started cheering," Jason said. He said as they were being processed to leave many officials apologized to them for the situation.

When they finally crossed the border into Canada last night they had an overwhelming feeling of relief.

Jason said he has a newfound appreciation for Canada.

"I'm buying a Canadian flag today to put on my porch," he said.

Edward is surprised the officers were so strict in carrying out the law.

"This is supposed to be our neighbour," he said.

While they are back at home in Scarborough, the two still aren't sure of their fate. They may have to return to the U.S. to appear before a judge. If they don't, they think they might wait a while before their next cross border trip.

And they'll be more careful the next time they go jet skiing. "Nowhere near a border," Jason said.