The boat involved in the incident, the Huey.
A few days ago, we reported that a police officer fired his gun over the head of a tourist on a surf charter in Indonesia. The incident occurred after a charter boat moored in Pasangan Bay at the Macaronis wave refused to leave.
According to the captain of the boat involved, Steve Sewell, a police officer boarded his vessel, the Huey, after he tried to pay someone off to stay in the area. “I offered them some money, as you do,” he said. “If there’s two boats there, as long as there is a third or fourth boat there they don’t mind if you hang around there for a few hours or the rest of the day.” He was then approached and told to leave, which he refused to do.
A short time later, a police officer showed up and presented him with permits and papers that proved his was, in fact, breaking the law. Sewell told them that he didn’t “acknowledge your permits, I don’t think they’re legal, they’re based on a flimsy by-law.” The incident ended when the officer pulled his gun and fired it into the air over one of the charter guest’s heads.
The Macaronis Resort has responded with press release. According to them, they have been “receiving threats that have put our safety, and the many local families we support, in jeopardy.”
The release goes on to to state that the Macaronis Resort had no involvement with the incident, and that the two parties involved were the Huey and the local police.
“The surf media has been publishing this story, which was brought to them directly from the charter boat, Huey, in an effort to defame Macaronis Resort,” they wrote.
“Two other boats were booked on the moorings at the time, and another two boats had just departed at 8.00am after visiting for two days booked on moorings. Huey was booked on the moorings for the following two days after the incident (booking made by captain of Huey via telephone), but had arrived a day early when two other boats were already booked. When police approached Huey, and asked them to leave, Huey ignored them and after a long waiting period a police officer fired a shot into the air to get their attention.”
Although firing a gun to get the attention of someone might seem like a little overkill, the Macaronis Resort said the discharge was in according with local law enforcement procedure.
“Macaronis Resort was as shocked as anyone to hear that this shot was fired. Macaronis Resort does not condone the use of firearms and would never encourage the local law to take such actions, nor do we have any control over local law enforcement.”
