KEY WEST, Fla. – A Key West man was arrested Friday after authorities said he was drunk and crashed his boat into a navigation light off the coast of Fleming Key.
Two of his passengers were hurt in the collision and a third was thrown overboard and was later recovered, the U.S. Coast said.
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Kevin Scott Lancaster, 50, faces charges of boating under the influence and causing property damage.
The Coast Guard said Lancaster’s 20-foot center console boat collided with the Garrison Bight Channel Light No. 3 around 8 p.m. Friday. Coast Guard personnel took Lancaster’s vessel to shore. His five other passengers were not hurt.
Lancaster was cited by the Coast Guard for boating under the influence, gross negligence and having an inadequate number of life jackets. Agents with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took him into custody.
Paramedics airlifted the people who were hurt to a local hospital. Their conditions were not disclosed.
"Boating under the influence is just as deadly as driving under the influence," said Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan Andzelik, a Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstander. "The Coast Guard will not tolerate putting yourselves and others in danger on the water. You wouldn't get in your vehicle intoxicated. Don't get in your boat intoxicated."