HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – After a day of apparent drinking on Lake St Clair, a 31-year-old Fair Haven man found himself in the hospital and then jail after crashing his boat at Mac-Ray Harbor in Harrison Township.
Deputies from the Macomb Sheriff Marine Division say the man's blood alcohol content (BAC) was more than three times the legal limit when he attempted to navigate the marina behind the wheel of a 17-foot Bayliner.
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Several witnesses pointed out the man, who was still aboard the boat, and told deputies the driver was entering the canal and having trouble controlling his boat. After losing control the man struck the seawall, then throttled up his boat, made a turn and struck a boat and a dingy docked behind a residence on Evergreen Drive.
Deputies say the man was highly intoxicated and an empty fifth of Fireball whisky was found sitting on the boat's dashboard.
A breathalyzer test revealed the man had a BAC of .36, deputies say. The legal BAC limit when driving a vessel on the water is .10 percent.
Due to his extremely high level of intoxication, the man was taken by ambulance to McLaren Macomb Hospital for a blood draw. The boat was towed and impounded and the man was later taken to jail and charged with operating a watercraft while intoxicated.