Coast Guard Seeks Reason For Sailboat Chase [Video]

Coast Guard officials are investigating the reasoning behind a sailboat chase Sunday afternoon.

While a boat was moored near Sausalito on Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard officers approached and asked to come aboard to inspect life jackets and safety equipment on board, according to ABC News.

John McCormick, captain of the boat, told the officers he didn’t want them to board and cut his moorings, taking off into San Francisco Bay past the Golden Gate Bridge, Coast Guard spokesman Thomas McKenzie said today.

When McCormick refused and took off, he led a low-speed 2.5 mile chase out of San Francisco Bay.

Officers called for additional help from other Coast Guard vessels before going after McCormick’s boat, according to ABC News affiliate KGO.

“We followed him, came up alongside of him and persuaded him that boarding would be in his best interest,” McKenzie said.

Boat safety is important, especially with the amount of accidents that have occurred this year alone.

Earlier this month there was reports of a tugboat accident that left a Minnesota man dead.

Another report stated that a teenager was charged with boating while intoxicated after he crashed his boat into the break wall at Sodus Bay.

When officials finally were able to board the boat, McCormick allegedly became combative, leading to a brief altercation between officers and McCormick according to McKenzie.

“Officials detained McCormick and brought him back to the Coast Guard Station Golden Gate. The chase and detainment took officers some five hours to complete Sunday afternoon after McCormick first refused inspection around 3 p.m.”

McKenzie continued on to say that they are still investigating why he refused to have his boat inspected, and have turned McCormick over to the San Francisco District Attorney’s office.

ABC News stated that it was unclear to authorities where McCormick or his boat were originally from and why he decided to take the Coast Guard on the slow-speed boat chase.

[photo credit: David Paul Ohmer via photopin cc]