BORDERLAND

Pair of boaters indicted for calling Coast Guard

9/5/2014

Two boaters who made a distress call to the U.S. Coast Guard after running out of fuel were indicted Thursday on a charge of making false alarms.

A Lucas County grand jury indicted Kevin Rusell, 53, of 2623 Lawrence Ave. and Mark Curtis, 54, of 2409 Applewood Drive on the fifth-degree felony, which carries a possible prison term of six to 12 months.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the men were out on a 26-foot boat July 5 in the vicinity of Maumee Bay when they ran out of gas and called for help. A towing company that arrived told them it would cost $250 for the fuel and assistance, so they declined and 30 minutes later called the Coast Guard’s Toledo station to say they were taking on water.