Contributed Photo / Baylor Head of School Chris Angel was arrested and charged with boating under the influence and reckless operation of a boat Friday.After an
arrest Friday for BUI and reckless operation of a vessel, Baylor School’s president and head issued a letter taking responsibility for his actions while denying the reckless operation charge detailed in a court affidavit.
“On Friday afternoon, I was cited by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials for unsafely operating a pontoon boat while with my wife and another couple,” Baylor Head of School Christopher Brent Angel said in a letter emailed to school faculty, staff and parents Monday. “I accept full responsibility for my actions and have learned a valuable lesson from this situation; however, please know that I was not operating the boat unsafely.”
Angel is represented by Chattanooga attorney Lee Davis. Davis declined to comment on the case when contacted Tuesday.
A Hamilton County General Sessions Court affidavit filed by the arresting wildlife officer, David Holt, says Angel’s vessel first caught his attention Friday afternoon when he spotted three people in the forward part of the boat with Angel operating the vessel with his right hand while standing. Angel was in a position away from the helm where he could not reach the throttle controls. This action, Holt said in the affidavit, was deemed “negligent operation.” Angel was also not wearing a kill switch, which is an emergency cutoff switch physically connected to the boat operator that kills the engine in the event the operator falls out or away from the controls.
Holt said he was piloting an unmarked boat with no flashing blue lights, but Angel stopped when he saw Holt’s uniform. Holt asked Angel to provide and show the officer safety equipment required by law to be aboard, including a throwable floating seat cushion or another flotation device and a fire extinguisher.
“There were three empty beer cans next to the throw cushion that was located next to the operator’s helm,” Holt said in the affidavit. “Mr. Angel was asked if he had drunk anything today, and he stated that he had three beers.”
Holt said he observed Angel to have slurred speech and asked him to don a life jacket and step over into the officer’s boat for field sobriety tests, according to the affidavit.
“After having done my tests, there were multiple indicators that Mr. Angel was too impaired to operate a vessel,” Holt said. “Mr. Angel was placed in custody for boating under the influence.”
When Holt returned to Angel’s boat to see if it could be released to one of the people onboard, one passenger allegedly told Holt he had been piloting the boat all afternoon and that Angel was covering for him, the affidavit states. Holt said the man asked why his account of events was being ignored.
“I told him that he and I are not going to see eye to eye on this matter and that we are going to try to release the vessel to a sober operator,” Holt states in the affidavit.
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Holt had the man blow into a portable breath tester, and he registered a 0.091 blood-alcohol level, the affidavit states. Holt said the man was not suitable to operate the boat, so he tested a woman passenger whose breath test result was 0.010, and Angel’s boat was released to her.
Holt said Angel refused to provide a breath sample, and he was taken to jail at that point, the affidavit states.
“As I move forward through this process, I want to assure you that I understand the responsibility I have to Baylor School, our faculty, students and families to conduct myself in a professional manner both on and off campus,” Angel said in his letter. “While I regret the distraction this will cause for us, know that I remain committed to the values of Baylor School. I have full faith in our legal system, and I look forward to a full and fair resolution of this matter.”
Angel, a 1989 graduate of the school where he has also been a teacher and coach, was arrested 6:30 p.m. Friday on Nickajack Lake upstream from downtown Chattanooga, according to authorities. Nickajack Lake extends downstream from the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga to the Nickajack Dam in Marion County.
Angel made school officials aware of the arrest immediately after it happened, Barbara Kennedy, spokeswoman for Baylor School, said Sunday in an email.
“The school stands behind Mr. Angel and is confident that this matter will be favorably resolved. Since this is a legal matter that will be handled by the court, the school will not be issuing any further statements or comments,” she said.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.