Following a review of last Friday’s incident, the Huron County Prosecutor’s Office authorized an arrest warrant for the airboat driver accused of almost drowning an ice fisherman.
38-year-old Tanner Carr of Sebewaing was arrested yesterday at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, being arraigned today in the 73B District Court on four charges, including felonious assault, felonious operation of a vessel, misdemeanor interfering with a fisherman and misdemeanor reckless operation of a vehicle.
Three men reported last weekend that, while ice fishing on a Saginaw Bay canal off the end of Kilmanagh Road in Sebewaing Township, Carr and a passenger stopped near them in an airboat. While it’s unclear what started the confrontation, with police theorizing an old unsettled dispute triggered it, it is clear that after the heated exchange, Carr and his passenger went to leave.
With the ice by the three fishermen already broken up by Carr’s boat, he apparently decided to make a turn around the 3 fishermen when he left, breaking the ice all around the fishermen as he did. Though two of the fishermen were able to get to safety, the third fell into the 8 feet of water below the ice almost immediately. He reportedly struggled to stay afloat due to his heavy clothes, with his companions eventually getting him to stable enough ice to get out of the water.
Carr was able to post bond after his arrest Tuesday, with the judge allowing Carr to continue his bond with the added conditions that he is not allowed to operate a vessel or have any contact with the three men.
