Cedar Lake man arrested after striking dredge pipe

A Cedar Lake man was arrested after he left his boat when he crossed the Cedar Lake dredge pipe.

Around 1:21 a.m. Friday, Cedar Lake Police were called to the 13400 block of Cedar Street on the lake for a boat ran aground, Police Chief Carl Brittingham said in a release. They saw the boat — a 2003 Baja — sinking and were told someone picked up that boat’s driver on a personal watercraft, Brittingham said.

Police found the 43-year-old man and noticed a strong smell of alcohol on his breath, Brittingham said. The man admitted to “operating the boat and speeding while crossing the dredge pipe and striking it,” he said.

The suspect was taken to the Lake County Jail and refused to submit to a chemical test, Brittingham said. The Post-Tribune isn’t naming the suspect until he is formally charged.

The boat, which didn’t leak any fluid and was therefore deemed a non-hazard, was removed from the lake, Brittingham said.

This isn’t the first instance of the dredge pipe being crashed into — or used as a launching pad. Last June, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources issued a temporary rule restricting the speed of watercraft within 220 feet of the dredge pipe. The rule lasted until the end of 2023 boating season; the DNR hasn’t reinstated the rule for 2024.

Last May, a boat hit the dredge pipe at high speed, lodging the boat’s propeller into the pipe, the Post-Tribune reported previously, and several people were warned after launching their jet skis off the pipe on June 7, 2023.

“If you are caught intentionally jumping the dredge pipe you could be charged and even taken into custody for a misdemeanor,” according to a 2023 statement from the Cedar Lake Police Department. “If you are jumping the pipe, you are likely causing damage to the pipe and the dredging operation in general.

“In addition to criminal charges, you could be held liable for damages, including delays in the dredging operation.”

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.