Coast Guard charges 100^th boater with Boating Under the Influence

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Coast Guard Station Wilmette Harbor, IL cited 34-year old Minneapolis man for suspicion of Boating Under the Influence while operating a boat in Chicago Harbor on Tuesday night, signaling the 100^th boater to be cited during Coast Guard Group Milwaukee’s Operation Midnight Badger, a summer long crackdown to remove drunk boaters from Lake Michigan waters.

            The BUI citation was the 42nd drunk boating violation issued by Station Wilmette Harbor this summer. 

            “We will not tolerate drunk boaters on Lake Michigan,” said Chief Petty Officer Mark Stevens, officer in charge of USCG Station Wilmette Harbor.  “Drunk boat operators pose the greatest threat to recreational boating safety… a threat not only to themselves and those on their boat, but to the safety of all law abiding boaters on the water.”

As fate would have it, the boat operator blew a .100 on the breathalyzer on this, the one-hundreth case.

            National statistics indicate that nearly 50 percent of all boating accidents and fatalities are alcohol related.  Nearly 800 boaters are killed each year on the water.

            Coast Guard boat crews from Calumet Harbor, IL; Wilmette Harbor, IL; Kenosha, Milwaukee, Sheboygan, Two Rivers, Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay and Washington Island are patrolling the waters during peak times and locations when boating and drinking may be occurring.  In 2002, 15 boaters were cited for intoxicated operation of a boat along western Lake Michigan, In 2003, 68 boaters were cited. 

            “Congress has played a major role in enabling us to reach this level of performance,” said Commander Scott LaRochelle, commanding officer of USCG Group Milwaukee.  “Post 9-11, they (Congress) have upgraded our small boat stations with faster boats and additional boat crews.”

            The federal Boating Under the Influence law closely parallels highway drinking and driving laws.  Boat operators suspected of BUI are stopped by the Coast Guard on the water and boarded.  Boat operators are given a breathalyzer test to determine their Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) along with a series of afloat battery tests that include touching a finger to nose, counting numbers and letters of the alphabet.  Operators deemed under the influence are immediately removed from control of the vessel, and in some cases, turned over to state and local officials for additional charges.

            The federal Boating Under the Influence law is civil in nature.  The maximum penalty for BUI is $5,500. BUI citations are forwarded to the Coast Guard Hearing Office in Washington, DC, for decision.

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