SEBRING — Sheriff Susan Benton accepted a letter of resignation Monday from a deputy who was charged in April by the U.S. Coast Guard with intoxicated operation of a vessel, while boating in a Pine Island canal. Former deputy Craig Skipper reportedly took an excursion in his boat on April 18, when he was stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard after a complaint was filed. Coast guard officials reported Skipper appeared intoxicated but he refused twice to take a sobriety test, an investigation report by Sheriff's Internal Affairs Officer Lt. Gus Garcia stated. The agency received a complaint that the boat was "operating on plane" (speeding) in a no wake zone and that the boat operator was "exposing himself," Garcia's report stated. ...more

June 24, 2008