Man Dies After Saving Dogs at Jetty in Ocean Beach

Lifeguards rescuing Owens off jetty. Screen grab from NBC7

The man rescued off the OB Jetty by lifeguards Wednesday has died, reports the San Diego Fire Rescue-Department and County Medical Examiner’s Office today, Thursday, Jan. 10.

Identified as Gregg Owens, the man was rushed to UCSD Medical Center intensive care unit but was later pronounced dead.

Reports have Owens – visiting from Nevada – entering the rough ocean around 2pm to retrieve his dogs. He did save the dogs but he was carried back out by waves and slammed into the rocks of the jetty.  Bystanders saw that he was face-down in the surf and being dragged out to sea by strong currents.

When lifeguards on jet skis reached him, Owens was found face-down and unresponsive lodged into the rocks on the jetty,

Lifeguards and paramedics performed CPR on him for about 10 minutes as he was rushed to the hospital. He was believed to be in his mid-50s to early 60s.

Times of San Diego

CBS8

7SanDiego

10News

Frank Gormlie
A former lawyer and current grassroots activist, I have been editing the Rag since Patty Jones and I launched it in Oct 2007. Way back during the Dinosaurs in 1970, I founded the original Ocean Beach People’s Rag - OB’s famous underground newspaper -, and then later during the early Eighties, published The Whole Damn Pie Shop, a progressive alternative to the Reader.

4 thoughts on “Man Dies After Saving Dogs at Jetty in Ocean Beach

  1. Ok, dogs can swim, should just leave them alone they will swim ashore, who lived? It was the dogs, the heroics was not needed, and it cost a good man his life, pray for the man and his family,

    1. Have to disagree with you there Stacie. I went surfing one day at Dog Beach and I hopped on a rip tide going out. I encountered a pit bull paddling for all he had against the current. I grabbed his collar and took him back to where he could stand. He clearly would have drowned without help. I then went back out and came across his owner who was also drowning and I pulled her onto my board. Once she could talk, her first question was “Did you see my dog?”

      This was a sad death but it was a very noble way to die, saving lives.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *