BASED ON INFORMATION TO DATE:  

On July 2, 2009 between 4:45 and 5:00 pm P1 of Morristown advised that he was a passenger in his fifteen foot McDaniel motorboat with four juvenile occupants on Cherokee Lake near the Hamblen/Jefferson County line.  A fourteen year old named P2 was identified as the operator by P1.  P1 stated that the boat had left a campsite near point 9 and was traveling downstream towards a restauraunt named Planet Wings at Black Oak boat dock.  Near point 4 the bow of the vessel began to rise up and P1 advised that he moved to the bow area of the boat in an attempt to get the bow back down.  His son who was apparantly riding in the rear of the boat said that the boat was taking on water.  At this point P1 advised that he took control of the vessel and tried to drive towards the shore.  The engine apparently stalled and would not restart.  P1 then entered the water and discovered that the drain plug had came loose.  Waves continued to wash over the stern and P1 stated that he put his finger into the hole to try and plug it.  He then advised the passengers to put on their life jackets and the boat sank.  A Pontoon boat picked up the crew and took them back to a freinds dock.  An injury to P1's left arm was suffered as he possibly impacted the boat as he entered the water.  P1 smelled of alcoholic beverage and had bloodshot glassy eyes.  When asked about alcohol consumption P1 denied having consumed any alcohol.  His eyes were checked and showed signs of alcohol consumption.  Officer 1 asked P1 to blow on him and the smell alcoholic beverage was on his breath.  P1 still maintained that he had not consumed any alcohol and that the smell was Copenhagen snuff.  P1 then stated that he had consumed alcohol after the accident on his friends boat dock as he waited for his wife to arrive.  He stated that he drank about 3/4 of a can of beer at around 5:15 pm.  operator initially refused a request to determine his BAC.   He then changed his mind and willingly allowed his blood to be drawn.  Blood was drawn at about 7:15 pm from P1 to determine BAC.   TheTBI crime lab in Knoxville on Strawberry Plains Pike will be performing the analysis.

The value for the boat was determined by searching the NADA website and the maximum value for a similar boat was:

$1030.00
TALBOTT                       