Oct 5, 2008 4:05 pm US/Eastern
Coast Guard Calls For Public Help On Hoax Calls
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Gregg Geller/CBS
The Coast Guard is asking for the public's help to find the source of three probable hoax distress calls in as many weeks that tied-up search and rescue crews from as many states -- Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.
Ron Sanders talked with members of the fishing and boating communities, as well as the Coast Guard, about the risks of phony calls.
The most recent probable hoax call came into the Coast Guard command center in Boston at 1:25 Saturday afternoon. "Yeah we got a boat at the Hampton Bridge here. They're going down. We hit the rocks. There's people in the water."
The Coast Guard launched three boat crews but they and bridge workers saw no one in distress.
Matt Cooney of Gloucester has made his living lobstering and fishing for 25 years. He was in distress a few years ago, taking on water 16 miles east of Gloucester a half-hour before sunset. "The Coast Guard did some an assist us and towed us back to port," said Cooney, so he does not take kindly to hoax calls. "There's no need for that nonsense. The Coast Guard's there to do a job."
"Each time we launch for these searches, we're certainly putting Coast Guard crews at risk as well as the boating community," explained Coast Guard Petty Officer Etta Smith. David McWilliam and his wife Virginia are part of the boating community. "People who are really in distress are going to be more at risk by the Coast Guard being preoccupied," said McWilliam.
In addition to putting lives at risk, making hoax distress calls is a six year felony that carries a $250,000 fine.
The Coast Guard asks if you have information, call them at 207-767-0303.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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