A routine Florida Fish and Wildlife inspection near St. Andrews Marina turned into a boating under the influence investigation after officers watched a personal watercraft nearly sink, questioned the young operator, and then dealt with his father loudly telling him not to complete sobriety tests.
In a video from the bodycam footage channel Fish and Wildlife Bust, the host said the incident happened on the afternoon of May 25, 2024, while two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were patrolling the waters of St. Andrews Bay in Bay County.
The officers first noticed a gray personal watercraft carrying three people near a boat ramp. According to the report, the operator made a sharp turn near a dock, and one of the passengers fell into the water.
What began as a safety and registration inspection soon grew into a damaged-vessel situation, then a possible impairment investigation, and finally an arrest.
A Sharp Turn Starts The Stop
The bodycam footage begins with officers approaching the jet ski and asking the operator about the vessel.
“Sir, is that your ski?” one officer asks.
The officer then asks where the registration numbers are displayed and whether the operator has current registration documents on board. The operator says the paperwork may be in his truck, but the officer reminds him that the registration is required to be on the vessel.
The officer also asks for a boating safety card, which the operator says he does not have with him.
At that point, the situation appears to be a standard boating inspection. The officers are checking the watercraft, the registration, and whether the operator has the required documents and safety items.
But as the officers step back and watch, the personal watercraft becomes a bigger concern.
One officer notices it appears to be taking on water and asks whether the plug is out. Another says the operator is about to hit the rocks and may sink the ski.
“What in the world?” one officer says as they watch the operator struggle with the vessel.
The Jet Ski Begins Taking On Water
The operator eventually gets the personal watercraft onto the sand near the ramp after officers tell him not to beach it on the rocks.
The footage shows him trying to deal with water inside the craft, and officers quickly realize the problem may be worse than a missing plug.
According to the video description, another boater at the ramp reported seeing a large hole in the bottom of the personal watercraft. The operator later tells officers the vessel had been damaged before, supposedly repaired, and then started having the same problem again after being used on the water.
The operator explains that the jet ski had been at an island and that they had barely gotten it back after it began taking on water.
One officer says the craft appears badly damaged and not simply “somewhat fixed.”
“That thing is completely shattered,” an officer says in the footage.
The scene had a chaotic feel, and not only because of possible impairment. A damaged personal watercraft taking on water near a ramp can become dangerous fast, especially with passengers, rocks, boat traffic, and people trying to rush a fix.
Officers Shift To A BUI Investigation
After speaking with the operator, officers decide they need to check whether he is safe to operate.
The operator says he is 19 and had been at the island earlier. The video description says one passenger told officers they had spent about six hours on a nearby island and that the vessel had been damaged earlier.
One officer tells the operator that the investigation is changing.
“I’m changing over from a boating accident investigation to a BUI investigation,” the officer says. “I’m not saying you’re BUI, but I just have to make sure.”
The officer begins checking the operator’s eyes and gives instructions for a field sobriety test.
The video description states that officers noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from the operator, along with behavior that appeared abnormal, emotional, and agitated. The operator denied drinking alcohol and said he had not had anything to drink that day.
This is one of those moments where two things can be true at once. A damaged vessel and a stressful near-sinking can make someone look rattled, but officers still have to separate panic from impairment when a person has been operating on the water.
That is especially true in a busy marina area, where a mistake can put passengers, swimmers, boaters, and the operator himself at risk.
Dad Arrives And Starts Interrupting
The tone changes sharply when the operator’s father arrives and begins telling his son not to take the tests.
“Don’t take no test,” the father says during the bodycam footage.
An officer tries to explain that the test is meant to determine whether the operator is safe and whether the behavior officers saw was caused by impairment or by panic over the sinking vessel.
The father continues loudly objecting, using profanity and insisting his son has not been drinking.
The officer tells the father that if his son has not been drinking, completing the tests could help him rather than hurt him.
“If he hadn’t been drinking, it can get him out of trouble instead of getting him in trouble,” the officer says.
But the father keeps urging noncompliance, telling his son to stop taking the tests and later telling him not to take a blood test.
From a legal and practical standpoint, the father’s interference did not help. He may have believed he was protecting his son, but the repeated yelling only added tension and made it harder for officers to complete the investigation calmly.
The Operator Refuses To Continue
The officer continues with the sobriety investigation while the father talks over the scene.
At one point, the operator says he wants to leave and go eat, telling officers he is hungry after being at the island all day.
The officer tells him he is not free to leave.
The operator again denies drinking or being on anything else. However, when asked whether he wants to finish the final task, he says he does not and says he wants to stop.
The officer then tells him to put his hands behind his back.
“You’re under arrest for boating under the influence,” the officer says.
The operator immediately reacts by blaming the situation on his father’s advice.
“This is why I was participating, Dad,” he says.
The father responds that officers would have arrested him anyway, then tells his son again not to take a blood test and says that if he has not been drinking, he has nothing to worry about.
The exchange is frustrating because it shows a young operator caught between officers conducting an investigation and a parent loudly telling him not to cooperate. Whatever the father’s intent, the result was not a better outcome for his son.
Refusal And Final Citations
According to Fish and Wildlife Bust, the operator was ultimately charged with boating under the influence and for refusing to give a breath sample.
The video description says he was taken to the FWC office, where he declined to provide a breath sample and was informed of the legal consequences of refusal. After being read the Miranda warning, he chose not to answer questions.
The report also states that he briefly lost consciousness for about ten minutes while at the office, during which photographs were taken.
He was later transferred to the Bay County Jail.
Along with the misdemeanor BUI citation, the operator received several infraction citations connected to the inspection, including refusing a breath test, lacking a working fire extinguisher, and other boating safety violations.
The video description also says the vessel’s registration was not current, the registration numbers were not properly displayed, and the craft lacked a proper sound-making device.
The host said that when the video was made, he could not find a record of the case, adding that maybe the charges did not ultimately proceed in a way that appeared in the records he searched.
A Bad Day On The Water Gets Worse
The case began with officers watching a dangerous maneuver near a dock and a passenger falling into the water. It then became a registration and safety inspection, a damaged-vessel response, and finally a BUI investigation.
The father’s arrival added another layer, turning a tense but manageable police encounter into a louder and more difficult scene.
There is no question the operator had already had a rough day on the water, especially with a damaged jet ski taking on water near the ramp. But once officers began an impairment investigation, the decision to stop participating carried consequences.
The broader lesson is simple enough: boating rules are not paperwork games, and BUI investigations are not limited to large boats or open water. A personal watercraft can be dangerous, too, especially when it is damaged, overloaded, or operated by someone officers believe may be impaired.
For the young operator, the day ended not with dinner after the island, but with handcuffs, a trip to the FWC office, and citations tied to both the vessel and the suspected impairment investigation.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
