 By U.S.C.G. Petty Officer Roger W. Wetherell June 12, 2002
A Coast Guard Station Ketchikan boat crew responded to the scene of a possible boat fire after receiving a telephone call from a concerned citizen stating that thick smoke billowed out of the fishing vessel Clearlight's hatch and windows Sunday morning. Once on scene, the rescue crew, armed with fire extinguishers, boarded the Clearlight and located Michael R. Anderson aboard the boat at 9:23 a.m. Anderson emerged from the engine room and claimed that the boat's engines overheated. At one point, the Coast Guard crew leapt from the fishing boat to the Coast Guard boat for safety after Anderson started the boat's engines, endangering the Ketchikan Coast Guard crew. According to Petty Officer Martin Lukaszewicz, Anderson, after boarding officers repeatedly told him to cease starting his boat's engines, engaged the vessel, nearly ramming the pier. The Coast Guard boat crew sensed that Anderson might be under the influence of alcohol, prompting them to contact Ketchikan Police Department officials. "Our main concern was to safely moor the boat and take Mr. Anderson ashore without incident, because he was belligerent and wouldn't cooperate," said Lukaszewicz. Once moored, KPD officers met the Coast Guard crew dockside and took Anderson into custody for alleged boating while intoxicated after he refused to submit to sobriety testing.
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