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Man Found Slumped Over Wheel Of Spinning Boat Has 4 OWI Convictions

LAKE ORION (WWJ) - Authorities say a suspected drunk boater who was found slumped over the wheel as his watercraft was spinning in circles on Lake Orion has four previous operating while intoxicated offenses.

Police say their latest run-in with the 42-year-old Lake Orion man happened around noon Thursday when they received a 911 call about a possible unconscious boater on the lake. The caller, a contractor working at a home on Victoria Island, reported a boat near the island going in slow circles, with a lone male occupant slumped over the wheel.

Upon arrival, officers found the 20-foot fiberglass boat had "a low-speed impact" with an unoccupied docked boat on the island. The man was now alert and awake, but appeared highly intoxicated, according to police.

Once it was determined that he was not injured or in medical distress, police conducted field sobriety and preliminary breath tests with results indicating the man had a blood alcohol content of .24, or exactly three times over the new boater intoxication limit of .08 that became effective on March 1.

The man was taken into custody and lodged at the Oakland County Jail, charged with operating a watercraft while intoxicated. The man has an extensive criminal record, including four previous convictions for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

"Even though this individual had four previous convictions for operating while intoxicated under the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code, he can only be charged with a first offense under the watercraft operating while intoxicated statute," Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh said in a statement.

Statistics show 70 percent of boaters who fall overboard end up drowning, and over 80 percent of all watercraft related accidents and deaths are the result of alcohol, reckless operation or failure to wear a floatation device. Police say the boat did contain personal floatation devices, but the man was not wearing one at the time of the incident.

"Certainly this individual put himself and others at risk to be in one of those categories, yet he can only be charged as a first offense under the Marine Safety Act," said Narsh. "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 man's name was not released.

 

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