A 42-year-old Lake Orion man was arrested on July 23, 2015 for operating a watercraft while being three times over the legal limit of intoxication and striking an unoccupied docked boat on Victoria Island.
According to Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh, police received a 911 call at about noon reporting a possible distressed unconscious boater on Lake Orion.
The caller was a contractor working at a home on Victoria Island and reported a boat near the island going in slow circles, with a lone man slumped over the wheel and appeared to be unconscious.
Lake Orion Police Department marine and road patrol officers responded along with the Orion Township Fire Department.
The Lake Orion marine officer arrived to find the boat, a 20-foot fiberglass inboard, struck an unoccupied docked boat on the island.
The driver of the boat was awake, but appeared highly intoxicated. Once it was determined he was not injured or in medical distress, field sobriety and preliminary breath tests were administered. The results showed the driver had a blood alcohol level of .24 percent, according to police reports.
The state’s new boater intoxication limit is .08 percent that became effective on March 1.
The man was taken into custody and lodged at the Oakland County Jail pending bond. He was charged with operating a watercraft while intoxicated.
The man has an extensive criminal record including four previous convictions for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, according to police.
‘Even though this individual had four previous convictions for operating while intoxicated under the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code, he can only charged with a first offence under the watercraft statute,? Narsh said.
‘Statistics show 70 percent of boaters who fall overboard or capsize, drown, and over 80 percent of all watercraft-related accidents and deaths are the result of alcohol, reckless operation or failure to wear a flotation device. This individual put himself and others at risk to be in one of those categories, yet he can only be charged as a first offender under the Marine Safety Act.
‘Perhaps this Act needs to be revisited to include motor vehicle code convictions. If you’re injured or killed by a drunk boater, are you any less injured or dead than if you’re hit by a drunk driving a car??
The boat did contain personal flotation devices but the operator was not wearing one at the time of the incident.