Boat Sinks, Driver Charged with OVWAIA

Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports the arrest of a Yorktown man accused of operating a watercraft while under the influence of alcohol.

While on marine patrol duty on Lake Mahopac at 4:18 p.m. Sept. 5, Sergeant Michael Szabo was dispatched to a report of a sinking boat. He saw several jet ski operators rescuing the three passengers of the boat, which had sunk to the bottom of the lake.

Upon safely arriving ashore, Michael E. Ahearn, 25, of 2103 Laurel Court, Yorktown stated that he had been the driver of the boat. The sergeant observed that Ahearn exhibited signs of intoxication and charged him with Operating a Vessel While Ability Impaired by Alcohol in the Second Degree, a misdemeanor, after the man failed a series of standardized field sobriety tests.

Ahearn was processed at the Putnam County Correctional Facility and held pending arraignment.

If found guilty of the misdemeanor charge, he could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.00.