Record arrests for Seafair

Seafair was stripped of its sozzled boaters after a record number of arrests were made on Lake Washington over the weekend.

Because of a coordinated crackdown by police agencies at the festival, about 100 people were arrested for boating under the influence by Sunday night. In 2005, 49 arrests were made the same weekend, and in 2004 only 12 were arrested.

"We don't believe that it's more intoxicated boaters on the water, but the combined efforts of law enforcement," State Patrol Lt. Jeffrey Sass said.

To prevent injuries and collisions, more than 50 officers from the Seattle Police Department, the State Patrol, the Coast Guard and U.S. Customs patrolled Lake Washington by boat and worked at a mobile precinct on Mercer Island.

Police departments said they had not heard of any serious injuries this year at the event on Lake Washington. In 2003, a woman was wounded by a boat propeller, and several people's toes were amputated.

"Multi-agency efforts aren't a new thing, but this year we've really put an emphasis on BUIs," Seattle Police Department spokeswoman Debra Brown said of the boating-under-the-influence arrests.

More than 60 BUI arrests were made Saturday by local police and State Patrol troopers. An additional 33 were arrested by Sunday evening. More than 30 minors were charged with possession of alcohol over the weekend, Sass said.

One man brought into the mobile unit on Mercer Island on Saturday became verbally abusive and chucked a rock at an officer, according to the State Patrol. The officer wasn't injured and the man was booked into the King County Jail on charges of felony assault and BUI, said Patrol Sgt. Rob Sharpe, who led the mobile unit.

The 30-foot motor home is equipped with breathalyzer machines and two holding cells. Suspects were taken back to the mobile unit for a blood-alcohol test and their boats were released if a sober driver was available. If all passengers were intoxicated, the boat was impounded.

Any driver with a blood-alcohol level above 0.08 percent was cited. Police also cited drivers if they behaved erratically or endangered others.

Brown said she didn't know how many boats were impounded this year.

Kathy F. Mahdoubi: 206-464-8292 or kmahdoubi@seattletimes.com