Residents in and around Quincy and Hannibal spent a great deal of July reinforcing the Mid Quincy levee to keep the town and its surrounds from flooding.
On the night of July 16, Scott, a habitual criminal, decided he wanted to be free from the nagging of his wife, Suzie, who had a job on the Missouri side of the river.
He wanted to party, go fishing and have an affair without fear of being caught or any spousal interference. He came up with a plan only a criminally minded person would conceive of – he broke the levee!
As he hoped, the ensuing flood washed out all the bridges for 200 miles! Suzie and many other people had to find alternative ways to get across the river for several weeks.
A barge was sucked into the levee and slammed into a gas station causing a fire to break out. Several businesses in West Quincy were completely destroyed! Luckily nobody was killed in the incident.
An old friend of Scott, Joe Flachs, told authorities that James told him of his plan to break the levee so that he can live it up a bit while his wife would be stranded.
Scott was found guilty of intentionally causing a catastrophe and was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison and he will only be eligible for parole in 2023. He is serving his time in the Jefferson City Correctional Center, where there won’t be any fishing or partying for James!
