DANVILLE - A district judge is mulling whether or not a Geisinger doctor is guilty of disorderly conduct for leading his two young sons on a walk across the ice-covered Susquehanna River last month.
Steven R. Bonebrake, 31, of 204 E. Front St., Danville, is fighting the charge. He testified during a hearing Monday before Magisterial District Judge Marvin Shrawder that he jumped up and down on the ice Feb. 8 to test its integrity. Nothing cracked. He kept his boys - 6 and 5 years old - in a line behind him, and crossed using the same route he used 20 to 30 times before, he said.
The walk came at the end of a 10-day stretch where temperatures hovered in the single digits. It was 42 degrees, and Bonebrake thought it was a good day to get his sons outdoors. They went sledding by the river before crossing the ice from Danville to Riverside.
He estimated the river's depth at about 1 foot judging by the shoreline that day. If the ice broke, he said the only danger was someone getting a wet boot. Minimal melting created tiny puddles on the ice's surface, giving an appearance of open water, but Bonebrake said there was no open water near them.
"I didn't feel there was any danger at all," he said.
Mahoning Township Patrolman Garon Fenstermaker said Bonebrake didn't drill the ice to measure its thickness. Drilling is the only sure way to get an accurate measurement, Leslie Young, Mahoning Township fire chief, said during testimony.
Young said the river current causes ice to be 15 percent weaker than an icy pond or lake. She said 4 inches of ice can support a 200 pound person, which is near what Bonebrake weighs.
Crowds gathered on both sides of the river when people saw Bonebrake and his two sons, Fenstermaker said. Had the ice cracked, putting the Bonebrakes in danger, he said rescue personnel would have had to risk their own safety.
But nothing happened, said Bonebrake's attorney, John L. McLaughlin. They crossed safely.
"Dr. Bonebrake made a decision that the ice was safe and obviously it bore out," he said.
During cross-examination, Young told McLaughlin she only looked at the river ice while she drove over the Danville-Riverside bridge. When firefighters were dispatched to the scene as a precaution, she was unable to respond and did not physically check the ice depth herself.
McLaughlin argued the disorderly conduct charge has no merit because Bonebrake wasn't behaving recklessly and showed no intent to break the law. Because their actions drew the attention of passersby doesn't mean Bonebrake created a hazardous situation, McLaughlin said.
"The fact that he was on the ice walking is a hazardous condition," Fenstermaker told Shrawder.
Shrawder was presented case law by both Fenstermaker and McLaughlin for review. A ruling could be issued today.