Boat captain leading 30-person tour falls overboard while drunk, Florida cops say

A captain is accused of falling off his boat while leading a 30-person tour because he was drunk, Florida authorities said.

The 53-year-old man is charged with misdemeanor boating under the influence.

His attorney information is not available in Pinellas County case records.

The captain’s co-workers told officers he showed up to work on April 12 stumbling, with food on his face, according to an arrest affidavit from the Clearwater Police Department.

He was working a tour for the company’s fun boat ice cream cruise when he fell overboard at around 2 p.m., officers said.

“Multiple citizens made comments stating that the captain ... was impaired to the point where he fell off the boat,” police wrote in the affidavit.

He appeared unsteady and didn’t perform well on a field sobriety test, officers said. His blood alcohol level was .118 and .115, which exceeds the legal limit of .08, according to the report.

Officers said he has previously been convicted of similar charges of driving under the influence or while impaired in Michigan and Arizona.

McClatchy News reached out to the boat tour company for comment but did not immediately receive a response April 18.

Clearwater is part of the Tampa Bay area on the west coast of Florida.

This story was originally published April 18, 2024 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Boat captain leading 30-person tour falls overboard while drunk, Florida cops say."