Found on another website, For your entertainment
From the arrest report:
On 5/25/2013 Donald W. Jackson out of Whittier California was arrested at 1000 N. McCulloch Blvd. (Nautical Resort) for Negligent Operation of a Watercraft after he was identified as the operator of a house boat (65 FT in Length and 14.2 FT Wide) which cause numerous collisions in the Bridgewater Channel. A vessel of this size is prohibited from traveling through the Bridgewater Travel due to the size of the channel and amount of traffic traveling through.
–
As the houseboat approached the area near sign #3 it caused a collision with another boat which was moored on the east shoreline. Jackson was able to operate away from the collision and continued traveling northbound. Due to the wind the houseboat was being pushed into the east bank of the channel nearly colliding with several additional moored vessels. Jackson attempted to correct for the wind which caused the houseboat to turn very hard to the left side, as the boat turned the rear had another collision with two additional moored vessels.
At that point, officers pulled behind the houseboat and closed the channel from the Southbound Traffic. While doing so, they observed several people who were on or close to the boats where the houseboat was heading had to run away or drive into the water to avoid being struck. The houseboat was now heading West into the bank of the channel where several more vessels moored. Jackson (the operator) attempted to avoid collisions with the vessels in front of him but was unable to do so. He collided with two more vessels which were moored on the west bank. Several people were nearly thrown from the vessels which were struck. Officers observed several other people who grabbed onto the front of the houseboat and held onto the front railing in order to avoid being pushed into the water.
Due to this collision the operator put the houseboat into reverse and nearly caused another collision into vessels which were behind it on the east bank. The operator was able to get the house boat to head southbound and maintain direction at that time. Officers followed the house boat with emergency lights and sirens on out of the channel. While following the houseboat, officers recognized it to be a rental boat from the Nautical resort Boat Rental Company (Havasu 19). Officers on another marked patrol boat and MCSO escorted the boat out into Thompson Bay.
Approximately 5 MCSO Patrol Boats as well as the SBSO boat assisted LHCPD in escorting the house boat towards the Nautical Resort. All patrol boats had emergency lights and occasional sirens on to alert the operator to stop. The operator continued to travel out of Thompson Bay and out of the No Wake Zone. It was at that time it appeared the operator was not understanding that Law Enforcement wanted him to stop. A deputy from MCSO and LHCPD boarded the house boat and contacted the operator (Jackson) who advised he didn’t realize he had hit any boats and thought they were giving him a police escort out of the area.
Jackson stated he was drifting into Thompson Bay when he realized he was to close to the channel and he needed to turn around. By the time he realized he needed to turn there was too much traffic and he did not have the room. Due to the traffic and the wind he decided to try and go through the channel. He did not intentionally go into the channel and is aware that Houseboats are not allowed in the channel.
A representative of the Houseboat Rental Company was brought to the houseboat by MCSO. They determined that the steering on the houseboat was disabled and it could only make left turns at this time. It was discovered that due to the manner that Jackson was attempting to maneuver it caused the right steering to malfunction. Sea Tow was contacted to tow the boat into the Nautical Docs. Once at the docs, Jackson was placed under arrest without incident for Negligent Operation of a Watercraft. Jackson was transported to the Police Department where he was booked and held for court.
DR#13-8174
