Natural Resources Police Steps Up Enforcement

With the summer vacation season nearing, Maryland Natural Resources Police officers are concentrating their efforts on getting impaired boaters off the water and intoxicated people off public lands.

Last year, alcohol was a factor in six of the 20 fatal boating accidents and was the No. 2 cause of boating accidents. Officers wrote 223 tickets for impaired boating in 2015.

This week, officers cited two boaters and two people on public lands for offenses involving alcohol or drugs. They also charged a Garrett County woman with impaired driving.

John Joseph Donohue, 18, of Gainsville, Va., was arrested Sunday after a fight broke out at Deep Creek Marina in McHenry. Donahue, the operator of a rental boat that sustained damage, was taken to the State Police barrack and administered a breathalyzer test.

When he registered a blood alcohol content of .09, above the state’s legal limit, he was issued three citations for impaired operation and one citation for having a fictitious driver’s license.

His trial date will be set by Garrett District Court.

A Garrett County man was charged Wednesday after officers were alerted to someone driving erratically at Swallow Falls State Park.

Samuel Fheo Polce, 45 of Mountain Lake Park, was arrested after he failed field sobriety tests and refused to take a breathalyzer test. He was issued three citations for impaired operation and one citation for driving on a suspended license.

His trial date will be set by Garrett District Court.

Officers on patrol about 1 a.m. Sunday near the Chester River and Kent Narrows stopped a vessel that was running without navigational lights and whose driver was having trouble maneuvering the boat to the dock.

Harry Clifton Lowe III, 38, of Stevensville, was arrested after he failed field sobriety tests and was issued three citations for impaired operation and one citation for failing to use navigational lights. He was released to a sober operator.

He is due in Queen Anne’s District Court on July 21.

A North Carolina man was arrested in Green Ridge State Forest last Saturday when an alcohol charge revealed he was wanted on multiple warrants by the Frederick Police Department.

Joseph Matthew Norris, 40, of Ellenboro, had outstanding warrants for burglary, malicious destruction of property and driving on a suspended license. An officer turned him over to the Allegany County court commissioner’s office.

Norris received a ticket for possessing alcohol on state land and also got a written warning for destroying a tree.

An officer patrolling near Youghiogheny River Lake in Garrett County last Saturday night arrested a Friendsville woman for impaired driving.

Virginia Catherine Nicholas, 51, was seen weaving over the center yellow line multiple times and had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. She failed field sobriety tests and refused to take a breathalyzer test.

She was issued three citations and driven home. Her trial date will be set by Garrett District Court.

Nicholas was found guilty last year in Garrett District Court of driving while impaired. She was fined $100 and sentenced to six months in jail, with five months and 26 days suspended.