“Robert Pooley was indicted after one of his unauthorized students fell to his death while with a skydiving customer.”
For those of you who already have a fear of heights and would never sky dive, this story might seal the deal for your phobia. For those of you who have always considered skydiving for fun, but never got around trying it, this story might make you think twice about it. Regardless, this story is pretty fucked up.
I learned about this story about a week ago when one of my friends had sent me the headline via Instagram. I kept hearing about it within the following days and decided to take a deeper look into what all the noise was about.
So as it turns out, there is a local skydiving center located in Acampo (like 4 miles north of Lodi) called the “Skydive Lodi Parachute Center.” Robert Pooley is the name of a man who is responsible for training the instructors at this center. Now keep in mind, these instructors are also the people you would jump with, in a tandem. Pooley was granted a legitimate certification in 2010 by the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA) and this recognized him as a qualified trainer.
Skydive Lodi Parachute Center's Instagram Account
Fast forward five years and Pooley’s certification is suspended by USPA for an undisclosed reason. However, this did not stop Pooley from teaching unauthorized classes, as well as charging his students $1,100 per class. One of the things that Pooley was charged with was aggravated identity theft, as he would use a forged signature of another examiner to sign off on his training sessions.
In 2016, one of Pooley’s students (who he had trained illegally), along with a teenage skydiving customer, had both ended up falling to their death. This is when Pooley got pinched. Following this, many of his other former students (who were still breathing) had requested their money back. He refused to fulfill this demand. Fast forward to present day and Pooley was finally found guilty on charges of wire fraud and identity theft, following a week long trial. He will be sentenced in a couple of months on August 26.
Oh yeah, and it gets worse. Apparently the “Skydive Lodi Parachute Center” is notorious for its fatal accidents. Over the past two decades or so, this center has had 19 reported deaths from jumping. That is a terrible reputation to be preceded by. I can’t imagine why anyone would still want to jump here? Do people not read reviews anymore, or do their research? Or do they just accept these statistics as part of the risk? Not sure..
Didn’t realize it until now, but skydiving is a very common activity out here in the Central Valley. After all, we have the space for it. I haven’t jumped yet, but a couple of my good buddies have and they swear it’s worth every penny. Speaking of which, a single tandem jump (with classes included and everything) can be between $200 and $300- so, not the cheapest thing to do on a boring Sunday. But if I’m paying that much for this experience, I’d at least expect a better vetting process for these centers- especially for the instructors and the people that train them. Honestly, I don’t know why Skydive Lodi Parachute Center is still open for business. But I digress. Do some extensive research on where you are planning to jump and accept the risks involved, that’s the best you can do.
God Bless,
Producer Reese
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Lots of PSA's out of Producer Reese this week - good stuff ! 19 deaths is bananas...