Port Charlotte man resists arrest, defecates off side of boat

A 60-year-old man's response to a wildlife officer boarding his vessel was to defecate into the water, throw drugs away and threaten to beat the officer.

James Christian Bates, owner of Bates Plumbing in Port Charlotte, was arrested on charges of dumping raw human waste into state waters, resisting arrest without violence, boating under the influence, obstruction of justice and marijuana and paraphernalia possession, according to an arrest report.

Michael Morrison, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer, was in Charlotte Harbor near Mile Marker 1 when he saw a yellow 15-foot 1972 Glastron propeller vessel zipping through a manatee zone with no lights about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

When Morrison stopped the vessel, he said in the report that Bates threw three marijuana blunts into the water and Bates, who later failed a field sobriety test, seemed drunk.

"Also, while attempting to climb on board Mr. Bates' (sic) vessel to arrest him, Mr. Bates disobeyed all lawful orders and defecated over the side of the vessel," Morrison wrote in the report.

Bates was so combative, the report said, Morrison had to use pepper spray.

Bates also made a comment to Morrison that he should have beaten him, "left (him) there and no one would have known," the report said.

He paid his $8,500 bond and was released from jail, but he is slated for a Jan. 11 court date in Charlotte County.

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