CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — A Clearwater man is facing charges after police say he rammed his boat into another vessel and then attacked a man on board. Police and other boaters say the violent incident illustrates a big problem with people anchoring their boats along the coast.
According to police, the suspect – identified as Blair Houston – rammed his boat into another boat around 2:30 p.m. on March 16, in Clearwater near the Clearwater Recreation Center.
Video captured of the incident then shows Houston chasing the other boat. Police said Houston eventually caught up to the boat, jumped on and assaulted one of the men, which caused him to fall off of the boat.
Officers said the suspect and victims all know each other. According to police, they started fighting because one of the victims had previously worked for Houston and was trying to retrieve their belongings from his boat.
“Luckily nobody was hurt, nobody drowned, nobody died,” Clearwater Police Chief Daniel Slaughter said. “But this type of ridiculous behavior is just not going to be tolerated in the bay.”
Chief Slaughter said this recent incident is part of a much bigger problem with people anchoring their boats along the coast.
“We’re talking about homeless people that are buying dilapidated unsafe vessels, anchoring them in a way that they break loose in great frequency and crash into other peoples docks, into other peoples boats. It’s a significant safety issue,” said Chief Slaughter.
“There’s ‘liveaboards’ down the whole coast of Florida,” said Keith Mannion, the owner of Hooked For Life Charters.
Mannion believes it’s becoming a major safety issue.
“We see it all the time. The other night, I was coming in late and there was sail boats with no lights on just anchored up in the middle of nowhere,” Mannion said. “It’s a huge, huge issue.”
But there’s a problem when it comes to enforcement. The boats are anchoring in state sovereign waters, making enforcement tough.
“It’s a huge loophole, and they’re taking full advantage of it,” said Mannion.
The chief believes the only way out of the situation is with help from legislators to strengthen local authority.
“We’re trying to be as aggressive as we can, but we’re definitely very limited,” Slaughter said.
Houston is facing multiple charges including aggravated assault. He had already bonded out of jail by Friday.