A 43-foot boat made an unexpected docking in Martha’s Vineyard on Friday after it ran aground on Chappaquiddick Island, prompting police to arrest its driver on a charge of operating under the influence.
The boat ran aground at around 9:40 p.m. on Friday, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement. When a State Police trooper arrived to the beach, they found a a 43-foot Hinckley Sport Boat 40C had become stranded.
The trooper approached the boat with Edgartown police officers and discovered two men were on board when the boat crashed. The men told police a navigational error was to blame for the crash, according to the statement.
When the trooper began speaking to the operator of the boat, identified as 32-year-old Riley Blizard, of Cotuit, he “immediately recognized signs of impairment” in the man, State Police said. The trooper then gave Blizard Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. He later arrested him on charges of operating a boat under the influence of liquor and negligent operation of a boat based on the results of those tests.
