photo by Barry L. Abbott
The saga of the Casey barge and floating restaurant continued Monday with a vandal causing much of the barge to sink.
Bankruptcy trustee Jerry Farinash said a hose that was tied on the outside of the barge to dump pumped water into the river was moved so that the water went into the hull of the barge.
He said he planned to file a police report on Tuesday afternoon.
Attorney Farinash also said he plans to meet this weekend in Biloxi, Miss., with officials of a firm interested in moving the entire barge and restaurant structure from Chattanooga.
He said he did not know what the firm planned to do with the structure that is across from Ross's Landing. "I don't care," he said.
Attorney Farinash said he would pay the firm for removing the structure, which local officials have long decried. It sits across from some of the city's main downtown tourist draws.
The attorney said he was notified last Thursday that the pump that was used to empty water from the barge was gone. But he said it later showed back up and never was stolen.
He said the short disappearance of the pump did not cause the barge to sink.