Man rips out diver’s air supply, crime caught on camera

An environmentalist found herself in trouble 50 feet underwater during a scuba dive last week, when someone pulled her air supply.

Rene Umberger, 53, was taking video during her dive when suddenly another diver noticed her filming, swam over and ripped out her air supply.

The Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement in Hawaii is investigating the incident, according to the Huffington Post.

This man needs to be arrested,” Umberger told Hawaii News Now. “I think this man needs to be arrested immediately for attempted murder.”

Umberger was able to get her regulator back in and start breathing again, but then the diver made another threatening gesture at her.

“I honestly thought he was coming back for a second attack,” Umberger said. “I got up on the boat and I said, ‘Oh my God, someone just tried to kill me underwater.’”

Umberger is the director of Maui-based For the Fishes, and has done more than 10,000 dives in Hawaii. She was diving off the coast of Kona with other divers at the time, who witnessed the incident.

Contact Kira Terry at kterry@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kiraterry