On May 19, 2012 we received a call of a boating accident on the Alabama River near the One More Lounge while we were working the Montgomery City Fest detail. The original call came through a friend of Vessel 2’s operator. Captain, Officer, Officer and I responded to the accident scene via patrol boats.  While en route we were also notified by the Montgomery DPS trooper post of the accident.

As we arrived on the scene I saw two vessels sitting idle approximately one-hundred yards south of the One More Lounge. The Wellcraft Scarab was not displaying navigational lights at the time of our arrival, but the boat sustained serious damage during the accident that could have caused the navigational lights to cease functioning. The Mariah runabout was displaying the red and green combination light but no stern light. Officers later found the stern light pole inside a compartment on board the vessel.

Upon making contact with the Mariah, Officers determined that the operator had been consuming alcoholic beverages. At that time Officer attempted to administer field sobriety tests to Operator1, but Operator1 refused to complete the entire battery of tests. Officer arrested Operator1 for Boating Under the Influence. At that point Officers placed a temporary stern light at the rear of the Mariah and towed it to the dock at the One More Lounge. Two passengers aboard the boat provided written statements at the dock. Operator1 did not provide a written statement, but told Officer that he had been leaving the One More Lounge via boat headed toward CityFest. While he was attempting to plane off, his vessel struck the rear of the Scarab. Operator1 stated that he did not see the boat prior to the collision, but stated that after the collision he couldn’t see navigational lights on the Scarab. While examining the damage and safety equipment on board Operator1’s vessel, Officers saw several unopened and several empty beer cans present . 

Operator2 was the operator of the second vessel, the Wellcraft Scarab. She provided a written statement at the scene and was tested for consumption of alcoholic beverages as is routine with boating accident investigations.  She did not smell of alcoholic beverages nor did she appear to be under the influence of alcoholic beverages. Operator2 tested negative for the consumption of alcoholic beverages. According to her, she and her group had just left the One More Lounge after picking up pizzas. According to Operator2 and the passengers, her vessel was displaying all required navigational lights. They were idling south in the Alabama River headed toward CityFest when someone on board yelled for them to “watch out for that boat.” They were then suddenly struck from behind by another vessel.  According to Operator2 and the passengers in her boat, the Mariah struck her boat at the rear, went up and over the boat and down the left side of it before landing in the water.  Operator2 and her passengers began to check for injuries. She also stated that Operator1 then tried to leave the scene of the accident. A boat that had stopped to assist towed Operator2’s vessel in to the One More Lounge. Passengers in Operator2’s boat provided written statements and the names of the persons that stopped to assist are also included in this report. 

There were no injuries as a result of the accident, but both vessels sustained serious damage. Once officers were finished at the scene, the Scarab was released to Operator2 and the Mariah was released to a friend of Operator1’s at his request. Operator1 was transported to the Elmore County Jail in Wetumpka, where he refused the Drager test. Additional information and details were included in this narrative by Captain.

Millbrook                     