Patrick Thomas Cochran
SYRACUSE — Patrick Thomas Cochran, 20, 1290 Kingsgate Road, Springfield, Ohio, and 6654 E. Waco Drive, Syracuse, was arrested early Monday morning, May 30, after police attempted to talk to him about a boating mishap. The boating mishap occurred Sunday evening in front of a Black Point Road home, on Lake Wawasee.
Cochran was booked on charges of resisting law enforcement using a vehicle, resisting law enforcement, illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor, operating a motorboat while intoxicated and refusal to submit to a chemical test. Additional charges may be pending.
According to information received, Steve Wygant, 8595 E. Black Point Road, Syracuse, Pier 159, posted on Facebook a copyrighted video of a purple Super Natique, with a wake board tower and wake boards, driving over a swim platform inside the buoys at the residence. Wygant asked for the public’s help in locating the driver. He posted the mishap occurred minutes before his niece was going to use the platform. His post has been shared by numerous Facebook viewers and was even shared with the Department of Natural Resources. Wygant posted that the incident occurred at 6:01 p.m. Sunday, May 29.
Wygant has not contacted the law enforcement division of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources nor the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department for a police report. All reports received have come from second and/or third parties.
The county’s communication center log shows a call was received at 6:01 p.m. from a Myra Burgman, 8589 E. Black Point Road, advising police that a purple Super Natique was speeding inside the buoys and drove over the raft at Wygant’s residence. She was at the property next to the Wygant property. The boat was last seen northbound toward The Frog.
Dan Rice, who was patrolling for the Wawasee Lake Patrol, located a boat matching that description at 7:03 p.m. It was docked at The Frog, but no one was in the boat.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Jon Tyler, who oversees the lake patrol, stated that after Rice located the boat, he continued on patrol. Rice later spotted the boat in the Johnson Bay area. Rice then approached the boat, as he believed it matched the description of the boat involved in the mishap.
Rice reported he approached the boat in his lake patrol vessel, with police lights activated, and began talking to the driver and one other occupant. Cochran, operator of the boat, told Rice he was not staying and was going home. Even after being told to stop, Cochran continued to operate the boat toward a Waco Drive residence.
Tyler arrived at the residence to observe Cochran tying the boat to the pier and was detained while an operating while intoxicated investigation began. Tyler reported that Cochran was not pleasant with him, physically resisted police and refused to give a blood sample. A warrant was obtained to get a blood draw at the hospital, before being booked.
Tyler, who will be speaking with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division to see who will take over the investigation, stated it is more than likely the boat operated by Cochran at the time of his arrest is the same boat involved in the Wygant incident. Tyler stated the investigating agency will now attempt to piece together information, including possible damage to the Super Natique.
Cochran was held on a $5,000 surety, $250 cash bond. He has bonded out.