Benton County Sheriff’s Office detectives made an arrest Wednesday following the investigation of a paraglider crash into the Willamette River this summer that killed a 51-year-old Eugene man.
Jarrod Karl Kaplan, 56, of Eugene, faces a charge of criminal negligent homicide in connection with the incident, which occurred July 1 near Peoria. Two fishermen on a boat helped rescue Kaplan, who was piloting the Fenix AirTap Paramotor paraglider.
The passenger was still underwater in the paraglider when emergency responders arrived. An investigation revealed that the victim had purchased the tandem paraglider flight online with Kaplan, a self-pronounced instructor, BCSO said.
Detectives were also able to determine that Kaplan was flying northbound over the river, not southbound as had been originally reported, when the paraglider hit a powerline and crashed into the water.