[LINK] Hot water

[rfmcdonald]

Edward and Jason Haist were cousins who nearly drowned in the Niagara river and washed up on the American side.

Jason Haist's arrival in the U.S. was a complete accident. After nearly drowning in rapids on the Niagara River, he washed ashore on American soil, where he was promptly informed he faced charges for entering the country illegally and could be detained for up to three weeks while officials try to determine his intentions.

Before departing Queenston on a Sea-Doo around 10 a.m. Saturday, Haist, 28, called the U.S. Coast Guard to ask whether he was free to roam the water around the Queenston-Lewiston bridge near Niagara-on-the-Lake, one of the busiest points of entry between Canada and the U.S. He said officials told him as long as he didn't dock on U.S. land, it wouldn't be anything illegal.

"There were no signs indicating that we weren't allowed to go upstream," Haist told the Star in a phone interview from New York state, where he remains at an immigration detention facility.

Tour boats, departing from Niagara-on-the-Lake, regularly cruise the same waters, but do not dock on U.S. territory.

Haist said he and a group of friends departed from a dock on Princess St. in Queenston. Still traumatized from his near-drowning, Haist said he doesn't remember exactly what happened after that but thinks he travelled south to the Whirlpool Rapids, where he was tossed into the swirling water.

"All he remembered was he went under with the Jet Ski, then the Jet Ski took off and he went down with the current," his partner, Catherine Kerr, said at their Toronto home.

Haist's lungs filled with water and he was knocked unconscious. His cousin, Edward Haist, 21, tried to save Jason, but couldn't get to him, Kerr said. Boaters in the area called for help. "That's when the Coast Guard got involved," Kerr said.

Jason was taken to hospital and Edward was arrested by Border Patrol officials, supervisory U.S. Border Patrol agent Jason Ciliberti confirmed yesterday.

Jason was taken to Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, NY, a hospital spokesperson confirmed.

Jason Haist, who was put on an IV drip after having fluid pumped from his lungs, said he could hear a border official using a walkie-talkie outside his hospital room.

"He was on machines all night," Kerr said. Haist was discharged from the hospital around 3 a.m. and arrested shortly after.

"He told them, 'I almost died. I didn't plan on washing up on your land,' " Kerr said.

Now this comes out.

Toronto police have arrested a man and charged him with possession of a stolen handgun--just two weeks after the same man was arrested by U.S. authorities for illegally entering the country.

Edward Haist, 21, was the subject of a manhunt by Toronto police all weekend. He was considered armed and dangerous.

Haist and his cousin Jason Haist, 29, were in the news late last month when they were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol near Lewiston, N.Y. They were charged with illegally landing their jet skis in the United States.

The two were charged with not reporting to immigration authorities when they landed their watercraft across the border.

No hearing date has been set for the U.S. charges. If convicted, the pair could be barred from entering the U.S. for five years.

Edward Haist faces three charges in Toronto, including theft under $5,000 and possession a firearm while under a prohibition order.

Would it be safe to say that Edward Haist has been having a bad time of it?