Sarasota Police officer leaps aboard speeding runaway boat

Sarasota Police worked with several other agencies and a commercial marine salvage service to bring under control a powerboat with no one aboard in Sarasota Bay on Monday.

The incident on the water finally came to a close around 1 p.m. when a Sarasota Police marine patrol officer jumped from his boat into the circling 26-foot fishing craft, the operator of which had fallen overboard.

The officer was not injured and the boat operator, who was not wearing a life jacket, sustained minor injuries in his fall into the water.

Two marine patrol officers’ body cameras captured the incident.

Police reported initially receiving a call of a boat in distress north of Ringling Museum in the bay between the mainland and Longboat Key. First reports were the operator had fallen overboard, and the vessel was circling at about 40 mph. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office and the Venice Police assisted the city police. Commercial tow service SeaTow tried several times to tangle the outboard motor’s propeller using a rope, with enough eventual success to slow the speed.

From there, Sarasota Police officers positioned their boat on a parallel course, moving close enough for one officer to leap aboard and cut the throttle.

The man who fell overboard told officers he was returning the boat after a weekend boat show. In navigating a larger boat’s wake, he fell over the side. He was not wearing an engine cut-off device that would have shut off the engine.

Police also used the opportunity to remind boaters that flotation devices and motor-kill switches are advisable when on the water.