A man from Cummings, GA has been charged with serious injury by vessel, homicide by vessel, reckless operation and boating under the influence, two of which are felonies. The charges follow a boating accident which occurred last April on Lake Lanier just around midnight. The accused man’s ski boat collided with a pontoon boat killing one and critically injured another.
The Cummings man turned himself in on Sunday to the local police and is in custody. If he is convicted, the accused man could be facing up to 20 years of jail time. Since the April accident investigators have been working hard to finish the analysis in order to bring the charges against the accused boater.
The preliminary incident report stated that the ski boat was moving across the lake around midnight on April 21, 2011 when it hit an unidentified object in the water. There were two passengers on the ski boat. That object that was hit was the pontoon boat which held two passengers, as well. After the collision, one of the ski boat’s passengers was able to flag down a passing boater in order to call for help. The passengers in the ski boat were taken to the hospital and were treated for minor injuries. The two passengers of the pontoon boat were found sometime later. The woman passenger was still clinging to pieces of the pontoon boat in the lake five hours after the accident. The other passenger’s body was found by rescuers. The woman was taken to the hospital where she was treated for her injuries.
The director of the Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Section, Colonel Eddie Henderson, stated that even though boating can be a safe and fun activity, it is important to follow safety rules when operating any kind of boat. If there is any alcohol consumption on the boat, be sure to have a designated sober person who is able to control the boat. Operating a boat is just like operating a vehicle and the same rules and laws should apply.
First responders to the accident included the counties’ fire department, police department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Department of Natural Resource’s Critical Incident Reconstruction Team is still investigating this accident further. The police department and the Department of Natural Resources are working together to increase the number of patrols on Lake Lanier to keep boaters safe.
