A Florida fisherman accused of dragging a biologist from the seafloor by her dive flag and line was on a misdemeanor battery charge Wednesday after a month-long investigation. The 74-year-old fisherman, Donald A. Bamford, was angry that the biologist’s dive flag was in his fishing spot, and he proceeded to pull up the diver, Alison Johnson, in less than a minute. Once topside, Johnson began suffering from a severe headache and was unable to convince Bamford to allow her to dive and decompress. She was subsequently taken to the hospital and treated for decompression sickness. Johnson was collecting data on mutton snapper spawn before the incident. Bamford has been released after posting $2,000 bail.
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