One of the men involved in a bizarre boat "accident" Monday night has been arrested, officials said Thursday.
Willie Lawyer, 33, has been charged with filing a false police claim after he led police on a four-hour search earlier this week in the waters off Bal Harbour.
Lawyer was never stranded at sea and in fact called 911 from the comfort of his own home, authorities said.
The search began around 9 p.m. Monday, when a distress call came into the Miami-Dade 911 center claiming that three men were floating in the sea in lifejackets after colliding with another boat.
Emergency responders were able to trace the call and were able to get in touch with the caller's parents, who confirmed that their son was out fishing with his friends and had not come home.
Several agencies, including the Coast Guard, Air Rescue, and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue started combing the waters from Oleta State River Park as far south as Government Cut.
After four hours of searching, police received a call from one of the boaters who said the three men had been rescued by a good samaritan and that their boat had capsized.
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Things got weird, however, when Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials, who were investigating the accident, were unable to find the capsized boat or contact two of the three boaters.
Lawyer also had an open arrest warrant for trafficking cocaine and carrying a concealed firearm, FWC officials said. He's being held at a pre trial detention center in Miami.
