A POLICEMAN stripped to his underwear to rescue a woman after she was left her stranded on a boat anchored off Capel Sound after an alleged attempted alcohol raid.

Police were called to reports of two intoxicated people swimming out to a boat moored 200 metres offshore, 7.30pm, Thursday 14 January.

It is alleged the pair ransacked the boat looking for alcohol but then, after coming up empty-handed, the man swam back to the beach.

The 46-year-old Rosebud woman, deciding she was too drunk to make it back to shore, stayed aboard. After being told the woman had been seen clinging to the back of the boat, the officer took the plunge and swam out to the boat.

The woman was said to be shocked to discover her rescuer was a policeman who promptly read out her rights and helped her to shore. When he searched the woman’s handbag on the shore, he allegedly found methamphetamines, cannabis and Valium.

She was charged with three counts of possessing a drug of dependence, being drunk and disorderly in a public place, tampering with a vessel, attempting to take charge of a vessel while under the influence of liquor and committing an indictable offence.

The woman was remanded to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court, 2 February.

The 59-year-old man was expected to be fined for illegal use of a vehicle.

First published in the Southern Peninsula news – 19 January 2021