On 7/3/13, at approximately 10:30 p.m.  I was contacted by San Patricio County Sheriff’s office to respond to a boating accident that had occurred at Ingleside Cove in La Quinta Channel.  They advised there were injuries and that the boat and passengers involved were at the Ingleside on the Bay public boat ramp.  When I arrived at the Ingleside on the Bay boat ramp, Ingleside P.D. officers were standing on the old Mircovich dock.  The boat that was involved in the accident was tied to the ramp side of the dock.  Several people were around.  I saw multiple beer cans in the boat.  Subject had already been moved to an ambulance.  Ingleside P.D. Officer pointed out the operator of the boat.  The operator of the boat was wearing red shorts and a tan button down shirt.  I asked Operator if he had been or was the driver of the boat.  He said he was driving and was heading back to the ramp and hit a post.  He said he was thrown out of the boat and his wife was injured.  I detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Operator’s  breath.  I asked if he was o.k., to which he showed me some scratches/cuts on his hand and arm.  I asked how much he had to drink. He said “three beers”.  I asked Ingleside P.D. officer how long operator had been at the dock and on land; he told me about 20 minutes prior to my arrival.  I conducted Standardized Field Sobriety Test, which Operator was unable to perform properly.  I read Operator the Statutory Warning, to which Operator volunteered a blood sample. I read Operator the Miranda Warning.  I arrested Operator and transported to Northshore Minor Emergency Clinic for blood draw.  I then transported him to San Patricio County Jail. The next day Game Warden and I went to Spohn Memorial to check on the extent of Subject’s injuries.  Subject was in surgery at the time.  Operator gave us a voluntary statement as to what had happened the night prior.  Operator told me that he was heading back to the boat ramp at Ingleside Cove after Kiewit fireworks show, when he hit a post.  He was thrown into the water.  His boat continued in a circular course near him.  Some boaters nearby pulled him onto their boat.  Operator's boat came to a stop after it's prop was fouled by some type of plastic debris.  Inside his boat he found his wife laying back against the transom on the port side. He cleared the prop and followed the assisting vessel in.  The daughter of the man operating the assisting vessel called 911.  They were met by local police and ems,  On July 5th with help  was able to locate the concrete post that was struck.  It still had fiberglass on it from the collision.
Ingleside