Charges unlikely in search for missing boater

First responders who called out in the middle of the night to search the frigid waters of the St. Croix River for a missing boater near Bayport aren't too happy the man failed to inform them he was alive and well until much later.

But, Washington County Sheriff's Cmdr. Andy Ellickson says it's unlikely the boater will face criminal charges because he left the scene before he could be tested for possible intoxication.

The 52-foot yacht crashed in Bayport early Sunday morning. Law enforcement officers and divers from at least 10 agencies responded after the man's girlfriend told police that she last saw him "kind of swimming, kind of standing" in the water.

Authorities later discovered the man had an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear for a probation violation hearing in connection with a DWI conviction in 2015.

Ellickson tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press the sheriff's office would not seek to recoup the cost of the search.