On the 28th of september, 2012, at approximately 9:00pm, operator was operating an 18ft sea hunt triton 186 open motorboat on the pamlico river near the moss landing docks located on the washington, nc waterfront.  Occupant was the only passenger on board the vessel with operator.  The two men were leaving a restaurant on the washington waterfront just before the accident occurred.  While the vessel was drifting, occupant went to the bow to urinate and unexpectedly fell into the river landing face down and was unresponsive.  Operator then attempted to throw a rope to occupant and yelled for him to grab it.  Occupant remained unresponsive floating face down in the water.  At that point, operator jumped in the water and attempted to pull occupant's head up.
 
While the two men were in the water, the boat drifted over to the washington boardwalk near moss landing.  subject was outside of his residence located on water street when he heard operator yelling.  He jumped on his motor bike and drove down to the dock.  He jumped in the boat that operator had been operating and maneuvered over to operator.  Subject then pulled operator out of the water and onto the vessel.  At approximately 9:02pm, a call came and the 911 dispatch was notified.  At approximately 9:29pm the washington fire dept on board fire boat 1 pulled occupant's body into their boat and started cpr.  Occupant was transported to vidant beaufort hospital where he was pronounced dead due to cardiac arrest.
 
North carolina wildlife officers and i arrived at he hospital and interviewed operator.  Operator described the incident and stated that occupant had been consuming alcohol.   We then spoke with the medical examiner who stated that the cause of death was cardiac arrest.
 
We then went down to the moss landing docks and performed a safety inspection on the vessel.  On board the vessel we found 1 type ii pfd, 7 adult type iii pfds, 1 type iv pfd, and 1 type b1 fire extinguisher.  All of the pfds and the fire extinguisher were serviceable and readily available.  The running lights on the vessel were in operable condition also.  On board the vessel we found a small cooler containing two 12 ounce beers and a 20 ounce soda bottle that contained some carbonated liquid with the smell of an alcoholic beverage.  Two empty 12 ounce beers were found in a rear compartment located at the stern of the vessel.

WASHINGTON                    