Police officer dies in single-vessel accident near Hammocks Beach

A police officer from New York died in a single-vessel accident Saturday near Hammocks Beach.

Officer Michael Nemes, 37, with the Southampton Town Police Department in New York was on vacation with his family in Onslow County, according to a press release from the Southampton Town Police Department.

Nemes, from Eastport, N.Y., was on a personal watercraft in the Browns Inlet area and ended up in the water unconscious, the release stated.

Sgt. Charles Smith, with the N.C. Wildlife Enforcement Agency, said Nemes death is under investigation, pending findings from the Onslow County Medical Examiner.

“This was a single vessel incident. (Nemes) was in the surf, and the weather and the surf were being affected by Hurricane Bill which was offshore. It was a dangerous surf,” said Smith. “The medical examiner’s findings will help us determine exactly what took place.”

Smith expects results from the medical examiner by next week.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m., said Jackie Schmidt of Jacksonville and his brother-in-law, Dan Haugk, of Holly Springs, who attempted to rescue the Nemes.

Schmidt and Haugk had been on their personal watercraft on the sound side of the beach, when a woman came running up the beach screaming that someone was drowning.

“We took off on our skis and went around the sound side, through Browns Inlet, and saw a man out in the ocean,” Haugk told The Daily News on Sunday.

Initially, Haugk said he thought a small boat had capsized, but as he got closer, he discovered it was a personal watercraft.

“I saw a person floating in the distance. He was face down and he was wearing a life jacket. I got as close as I could with the jet ski, then jumped off the jet ski and turned him over to see if he was responsive,” Haugk said.

Schmidt and Haugk tried to pull the man onto their personal watercraft, but the waves were too strong.

“About that time, an 8-foot wave hit us. I lost track of (Nemes) and the jet ski sunk,” said Haugk, who said he swam to shore on Browns Island. Haugk was able to spot Nemes out in the surf and, with Schmidt’s help, pulled him out the water.

“He had no pulse. He was unresponsive,” Haugk said.

Schmidt said he called 911 at 4:26 p.m. He made contact with the Carteret County EMS, who connected him to the Onslow County EMS.

“I was on the phone for about 10 minutes. I was told someone from Camp Lejeune would call me. No one ever did,” Schmidt said. He also talked with the N.C. Wildlife Commission and the Coast Guard Station at Wrightsville Beach.

Schmidt said that it was about an hour and 15 minutes from the time he made the 911 call until the time emergency crews from the Swansboro Fire Department and Onslow County EMS arrived.

Nemes is survived by his wife, who is expecting their second child in October. The couple also has a 2-year-old daughter.

Nemes was a five-year veteran of the Southampton Town Police and was assigned to the Department’s Community Response Unit and Emergency Services Unit, according to the Southampton Town Police.

Timmi Toler is city editor with The Daily News.