Who Owns This Boat??

[NautiqueJeff]

Anyone have any idea whose boat this is?? There are some people up at Lake Wawasee who would like to talk to this guy.

[CHassmann]

What did he run over? And he barely even slowed down. Wow....

[NautiqueJeff]

A stationary float/raft. The owner's kid was just about to go out there.

[Cpan13]

That guy had to have been drunk or a stolen boat. Can't even imagine what's going through someone's head to pull that.

[NautiqueJeff]

Looks like they found him.

LAKE WAWASEE, Ind. (WANE) A 20-year-old Ohio man is facing multiple charges following an investigation on Lake Wawasee Saturday evening that was initiated when a boat was seen running over a swim raft earlier in the day.

According to an incident report from the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, Sgt. Jon Tyler was notified at 8:46 p.m. that a boat was fleeing officers on Lake Wawasee after it had been stopped because it was similar to a Super Nautique wakeboard boat that had hit the swim raft while speeding near shore.

Sgt. Tyler went to the Waco Drive area where the boat was seen heading and arrived in time to see the driver of the boat tying up to the pier as the lake patrol boat arrived nearby.

In his report, Sgt. Tyler noted that the driver refused his order to stop as he tried to walk past on the pier saying he had to speak to his dad. The driver, identified as Patrick D. Cochran, 20, of Springfield, Ohio became belligerent according to Tyler, and he was placed in handcuffs. A female passenger, also from Ohio was also in the boat with Cochran. Tyler noted that Cochran smelled of alcohol, had red, watery eyes and had a hard time keeping his balance. Cochran failed field sobriety tests and was taken to a nearby hospital to be evaluated after he was able to move his handcuffs from behind him to in front of him several times.

After being read the Miranda warning, Cochran said he drove away from the patrol boat because he didn’t think the two men on board were police officers.

He faces charges of fleeing law enforcement with a vehicle, minor consumption/possession of alcohol and operating a boat while intoxicated.

The Conservation Officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources are leading the investigation into the incident where the swim raft was hit.

[seachicken27]

Glad they were able to catch up to that guy. People driving drunk in wakeboard boats give us responsible/safe boaters a bad rap. Not cool...

[a0128]

LOL. 20 year old drunk, belligerent douche bag. What a surprise (see eyes rolling). "Had to go speak to his Dad." I'll bet Dad is a 50 year old drunk, belligerent douche bag. These characteristics are usually passed down through the gene pool.

[swatguy]

LOL. 20 year old drunk, belligerent douche bag. What a surprise (see eyes rolling). "Had to go speak to his Dad." I'll bet Dad is a 50 year old drunk, belligerent douche bag. These characteristics are usually passed down through the gene pool.

Who's daddy probably bought him the G.


This is one thing I see daily. Why not just man up and own the fact you hit this guys raft on "accident" . Pay to fix it and be done. Instead you turn what could've been a simple whoa wee are lucky into a giant felony.

[peteSki]

Thankfully there was nobody on that raft, could have been a lot worse. I've seen quite a few near misses over the years, mostly people just not knowing what to do, no wake etiquette around docks and ramps etc. We've got a zero alcohol policy here in the province of Ontario, meaning no booze in the boat for anyone, but I still operate under the assumption that this may not be observed by other boaters so I try to always be on the look out.

[shag]

I honestly think that some people with money, shouldn't own boats.... Too many idiots like that. imo

[Quinner]

Lake patrol must have some slow azz boats if they can't catch one of those big barges, lmao

Hopefully Mr. Cochran Jr learns a lesson from all this as he is very fortunate the damage and consequences could have been much worse.

[seth]

Sounds like a case of affluenza to me. Hopefully he gets the help he needs and maybe a new truck and boat when he has been healed.

[enzo thecat]

There's more to the story:


Saturday the jackass drove inside my pylon and about hit my pier while pulling a wakeboarder. My 6 year old daughters are usually swimming there. He later came back and apologized to me. His parent's lake house is on a different part of the lake. Its the largest lake in the entire state and everyone comes to our bay to ski and wakeboard. Its the best scene in Indiana.

Sunday I noticed him hanging out back in the corner of our bay. He had a girl in the boat and they were floating in some lily pads (that are protected) in shallow water. I thought he might have broken down. He had his running lights on and even the docking lights in the daylight. Next thing I know here comes a police boat with light flashing and 2 police on-board. I pulled out my binoculars to get a close look at the situation. The police pulled up and tried engaging him. He and the girl both completely ignored them and started the boat and drove of slowly. The police pulled up right up next to him and got pretty angry, especially when it looked like they were touching hulls. The kids still ignored them. The police were looking at each other with a look of disbelief.

Next the kid took off! He actually gunned the boat full throttle and out ran the police with them in pursuit. I was in shock.

More enforcements were waiting for him at his parents cottage. I was told they found a lot of cash and drugs on the boat. Apparently he was at a restaurant and was inebriated and belligerent there before he ran over the swim platform. He spent time in jail and has now bonded out.

Here is the video:

https://video.ford1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/...a1&oe=574F89CC


If my video link isnt working, you can see the video on the owner's FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/steve.wygant.31

[kend]

There's more to the story:


He later came back and apologized to me. [/URL]

At least there is a shred of decency; hopefully he will get off drugs and his parents will rethink letting him use the boat.