On Sunday August 11th at approximately 1700 hours Ranger and I were on a boating safety patrol on the Flint River in Decatur County. We observed a white male subject flagging us down approximately one mile south of Reynolds sandbar. The subject was standing on the east riverbank, beside an aluminum Duracraft boat. Operator1 was holding the tow line and stated to us that his motor had stopped working. I observed damage to the front port side of the vessel. Operator1 stated that he had been at Reynolds's sandbar  and that someone had struck his boat while it was at anchor.  Operator1 was unsteady on his feet and had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. I asked Operator1 if he had been drinking and he stated no. I observed an empty bottle of vodka that was in the bottom of the boat.  I told Operator1 that I knew he had been drinking and I asked him again how much alcohol he had consumed. He told me he had a couple of drinks.  I observed additional damage to the motor of the boat . The motor was sitting sideways off the transom. After taking a closer look, I discovered that the motor was almost completely knocked off the transom. I asked Operator1 what he hit with the boat. He again said that he didn't remember hitting anything and that the motor just quit on him. I told him that I didn't believe him and that he had to hit something to do the amount of damage his boat sustained. He then said that he might have hit something. 

I asked Operator1 if he would submit to field sobriety exercises to determine if he was safe to operate a vessel. He consented and Ranger conducted the BUI screening interview. Operator1 failed all of the field sobriety exercises.  Operator1 contacted a friend by phone to tow his vessel to the Flint River Heights landing. While at the landing, Operator1 admitted to hitting a tree and stated that he was the only one in the vessel. Ranger from Decatur S.O. stood by with  Operator1 while I attempted to locate anyone who witnessed the boating incident or someone who had seen Operator1 operating his vessel within the last three hours.

I was unable to find any witnesses that could give me an approximate time when Operator1 wrecked his vessel.

I returned to the landing and picked up Sergeant. We went back to the area where we first met Operator1 in an attempt to locate the incident site. Approximately fifty yards North of where Operator1 flagged us down, we located two cypress trees on the East bank of the river that had been struck by a vessel.  The trees matched the damage to the vessel. The vessel struck a tree on the port side causing the boat to whip around, and the motor struck the second tree.
Operator1 was issued a citation for reckless operation of a vessel and was released in the custody of his parents. He was not charged for BUI because we could not get an approximate time that the incident occurred. He was previously convicted of BUI in Decatur County in 2011.
The vessel was turned over to the owner.
BAINBRIDGE