KEY WEST, FL USA - 01-24-2021: Close up image of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Ingham, one of only two preserved Treasury-class United States Coast Guard Cutters, now a Maritime Museum. (Photo credit: Chuck Wagner / Shutterstock)
A Canadian man is accusing the United States Coast Guard of capsizing his boat and illegally detaining him on bogus claims that he was fishing in American waters.
CTV Newsreported Wednesday that 60-year-old Edouard Lallemand of Quebec says he was fishing near Venise-en-Québec, which is a little less than 10 miles from the U.S. border when a U.S. Coast Guard boat approached him and asked him to turn off his boat's engine.
After he complied with this request, Lallemand told CTV News, the Coast Guard members informed him that he was fishing illegally in U.S. waters despite the fact that he had fished in that exact same location for years and had never encountered any problems. Lallemand insisted he was in Canada and then started his engine and indicated to the Coast Guard officials that he would be happy to talk with them further on shore.
However, the Coast Guard vessel followed Lallemand's boat closely and seemed to be trying to push it toward U.S. waters, which he said caused it to capsize. Even after he fell into the water, Lallemand said, the Coast Guard members seemed more concerned about securing his boat than helping him out.
"They're tying my boat to their boat," he said. "They're not even taking care of me. The third time I went down, coming out with water in my mouth, spitting it out, I said throw me a buoy."
The Coast Guard members pulled him out onto their boat and proceeded to handcuff him and place him in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, who brought him to a detention facility, where they fingerprinted him and locked him in a cell.
"I said are you arresting me? No sir you're detained," he explained to CTV. "I said detained for what? I said you aggressed me. I didn't do nothing to you guys, I didn't even hit you guys."
He was released from detention after two hours and returned to Canada. However, he said his experience was bad enough that it should be a warning to fellow Canadian boaters.
"I want the people to know and to be aware: Stay away from the border," he said. "Even if it's 500, 600 feet from there."
Lallemand's wife, Darlene Fielding, told CTV she was "flabbergasted" at the treatment her husband received at the hands of the Coast Guard.
"We treat our pets better than they treated him," she said.
In a statement given to CTV, the Coast Guard acknowledged capsizing Lallemand's boat but insisted that he was to blame.
"While the Coast Guard's 29-foot response boat... was alongside the vessel, the operator put the vessel in motion and ignored commands to maintain course and speed for boarding purposes," the Coast Guard said. "The vessel then made an abrupt starboard turn and struck the port bow of the Coast Guard small-boat... approximately 65 yards south of the U.S./Canadian border. The collision caused the vessel to capsize, putting the operator in the water."