A Saunderstown man faces charges of operating a watercraft under the influence after his boat struck a moored vessel off East Ferry on Friday night, ejecting his passenger into the water, the Jamestown Police Department said.
Police received an open 911 call at about 10:39 p.m. on June 12 that, based on GPS coordinates, appeared to come from the waterway off East Ferry. Officers reached the caller, who said he had just been involved in a marine accident with another vessel and that his passenger had been ejected during the collision but located and brought back aboard.
Jamestown police and Jamestown Fire & Rescue responded to the area. The operator, identified as Dawson Hodgson, 47, of Saunderstown, navigated his 20-foot fiberglass vessel back to a slip at East Ferry, where emergency personnel met him.
Officers reported observing visible signs of intoxication while speaking with Hodgson, who refused to perform standardized field sobriety tests, according to police. He was taken into custody and charged with operating a watercraft under the influence, first offense; watercraft chemical test refusal, first offense; and failure to obey a lawful order, a civil traffic violation.
“Whether you are operating a car or a boat, impairment can have tragic consequences,” Jamestown Police Chief James P. Campbell said in a statement. “Alcohol-related crashes are one of the leading causes of death in recreational boating and we strictly enforce our operating under the influence laws.”
The passenger was evaluated by Jamestown EMS and declined medical treatment. Hodgson sustained minor injuries and also declined treatment.
After the incident, the Jamestown Police Department, its drone unit, the Jamestown Fire Department, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Coast Guard searched the area to ensure no one else was in the water or in distress. Investigators later determined that Hodgson’s vessel had struck an unoccupied, moored boat in the Jamestown mooring field.
Hodgson is scheduled to appear in Newport County District Court on June 17 at 9 a.m. for his arraignment. He is also set to appear before the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal on July 21 on the civil traffic violation.
