Family of teen who drowned files suit against county
HAMILTON >> The family of a teenager who drowned in Roebling Park last year claims in a wrongful death lawsuit the county and township knew about the dangerous conditions at the park but failed to address them before the teen’s tragic death.
Marty Barchue, a 17-yearold Hamilton West High School student, was with friends swimming in Rowan Lake in the Watson Woods section of John A. Roebling Memorial Park on June 21 when he was swept away by a strong current.
Police recovered his lifeless body a day later.
Barchue’s sister, Winnifred Clinton, says in the lawsuit the county and township knew “the dangerous condition of the premises created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injuries suffered” by Barchue.
“The defendants could have taken measures to protect against the dangerous conditions of the public property contributing to the drowning accident of Marty Augustus Barchue. The actions taken by the defendants to protect against the dangerous condition, or the failure to so act, was palpably unreasonable under the circumstances,” according to the lawsuit, filed by attorney Robert Rubinstein.
The civil complaint also names the Mercer County Park Commission.
Within months of the teen’s death, the Park Commission, which operates the park, installed “no swimming signs” in the spot where the teen drown and at nearby Spring Lake.
The signs were put up after The Trentonian visited the park and reported there were no signs warning people not to swim in the area where Barchue drowned.
The family’s attorney said the county should have been proactive about warning people of the potential dangers.
“They knew the kids would swim there,” Rubinstein said. “It’s an open invitation in the hot weather to go swimming. There’s a park bench there; it’s in a wide-open area. This is a tragedy.”
Mercer County spokeswoman Julie Willmot said it hadn’t been served with the lawsuit and would refrain from commenting.
Barchue was a sophomore at Hamilton West High School and a member of the track and field team.
He was pulled from Rowan Lake, which connects to Crosswicks Creek and is a tributary of the Delaware River, a day after he was swept away during a strong storm that blew through the area.
A previous tour of the Hamilton park by a Trentonian reporter a revealed that none of the nine different signs in Roebling Park indicated whether swimming was permitted or prohibited.
In fact, the term “swimming” was never mentioned in any of the signs.
Only one sign referenced the “Tidal Delaware River,” alerting visitors to the “host of safety challenges for motor, sail and paddle craft.”
It also warned boaters to be aware of the changing tide and instructed them to “wear a life jacket at all times.”
Willmot, the spokeswoman, previously attempted to justify the lack of “no swimming” signs at Roebling Park by saying, “There are no ‘welcome swimmers’ signs, there are no buoys or lane markers indicating a safe area to enter the water.”