On 06/09/10 at 9:00 PM I, Indiana Conservation Officer was on patrol when I received a call from Lt.  advising me that he had been notified about a boat accident that had occurred earlier in the evening at Monroe Reservoir.  All we knew at the time is that the victim was currently at the Bloomington Hospital receiving treatment.  I  then proceeded to Bloomington Hospital from Brown County to find out more about the accident.    At approximately 9:45 PM I arrived at Bloomington Hospital and spoke to ER Nurse who was the nurse in charge of taking care of the victim, victim.  nurse advised that currently victim was in surgery for her wounds.  nurse stated that victim injuries consisted of laceration across the lower thigh reaching across the knee region which was actively bleeding,  smaller laceration on the interior side of the right ankle  and abrasion on the right thigh region.  She stated that victim was conscious and alert when she arrived and that a blood draw was done which was tested and showed a blood alcohol content of .258 mg/dl.  nurse indicated their was a second person who was checked out and was waiting fro the victim in the surgical waiting area.

Moments later I made contact with victim2 in the surgical waiting area.  victim2 indicated that he was the other victim who was with other victim at the time of the accident.  He indicated the extent of his injuries consisted of an abrasion on his lower right back.  He stated the hospital put some dressing on him and he was then released from their care.  When asked what happened he stated that there was a large group of people consisting of approximately 15 people who rented a double decker pontoon boat that day.   Around 1:00 PM he and victim got on along with the other people and proceeded to swim and relax through out the afternoon.  He stated that several times during the day the boat would drift close to shore and as it did they would start it up and go back out into the middle of the cove, shut down and continue relaxing in the water.  He then indicated that at the time of the accident he and victim were in the water relaxing and hanging onto the bow of the boat.  When the boat motor started up and started going slow he and victim started yelling to stop the boat and it was at that time he says the boat started accelerating at a faster speed.    They continued to yell and then went from grabbing the bow of the boat to the interior ribs of the boat located between the pontoons.  He says they tried to hold onto several ribs until they could not hold on any further.  He felt no one on the boat could hear them yelling due to the combination of the radio on the boat and the motor.  

He indicated as they both let go he attempted to push victim away from where he thought the propeller of the boat might be.  Moments later as they popped up behind the boat victim indicated to him that her leg was hurt and she could not tread water.  He then grabbed her until the boat turned around and picked them up.  Once picked up they called 911, went to shore and carried victim to the parking lot where they waited for Bloomington Hospital Ambulance Service to arrive.  When asked if they were wearing life jackets when the accident occurred he indicated "no".  He was not for sure when the incident occurred but thought it happened between 5:00 -6:00 PM.  He indicated that both of them had been drinking alcohol through out the day.  When asked who was driving he stated that due to the position of where they were at he did not know who was operating the boat at the time of the accident.  He did indicate that his friend was the individual that had the boat rented in his name.
Bloomington                   