On Friday 7/24/09 at about 1215 hours Officer was dispatched to Whitefish Lake City Beach regarding an injury watercraft collision.  Dispatch advised that the collision was PWC Vs. PWC with a subject down in the water.  Officer arrived at the boat ramp at about 1219 hrs and saw that medical aid was already on scene.  

     Paramedics were in the process of launching the emergency Hoover craft for the  injured party, who was just off shore and visible from the boat ramp.  The distance was approximately 300 yards away.  Officer observed a male, operator #1, hanging onto the side of his watercraft, awaiting energency medical personnel to arrive.  There were three total watercrafts grouped together as the emergency hoover craft launched from the storage building and make initial contact at the crash site.  Shortly after paramedics arrived on the water at the crash site, Officer observed as operator 1 was assisted to shore by being pulled slowly behind a watercraft, while laying face down on a backboard, provided by paramedics.
    It was determined that the watercraft that operator 1 was driving sustained minor visible damage primarily to the front end.  The watercraft was still functiona lafter the collision.  The second watercraft involved is the collision was determined to be driven by a friend of operator 1.  Operator 2 eventually came into shore and was subsequently contacted by Officers.  Operator 2's watercraft was also functional after the collision, however, sustained minor damage primarily to the front end.  Photographs were later tagged into evidence at the Whitefish Police Department.
     While still on scene and conducting the investigation Officer was contacted by the Reporting Party, who stated that she witnessed the impact and ejection of the injured male.  Other witnesses aproached Officerand provided statements.
     It should be noted that during the preliminary investigation the independent witness stated that operator 1 and operator 2 were warned by an unknown male subject to slow down their watercrafts because they were too close to shore.  All three witnesses were in agreement that they were drivingtoo fast by the beach area and shoreline prior to being warned by the unknown male.  All three witnesses stated that they were doing circles and maneuvers that appeared to be unsafe.  The maneuvers created wakes that were noticeable to the witnesses.
     Operator 1 was transported to North Valley Hospital for treatment.  Officer1 later responded to the Hospital and make contact with Operator 1 and 2.  Officer remained on scene and spoke with friends of Operator 1.  The friends related to Officer that the watercrafts were rentals from Extreme Motorsports.  They had only been in the water for about an hour before the accident occured.  The watercraft were delivered by Extreme Motorsports to the city beach.  Officer asked if they recalled who gave them the warning earlier about staying away from the shoreline and they could not explain if it was a person in an official capacity.  They believed it was someone from the public.
     Officer1 was able to provide Officer a copy of the rental agreement which states that as part of the lease agreement the waiver clearly states that the undersigned are not allowed to operate the watercraft within 200' of each other.  Based on witness statements operator 1 and 2 were both doing circles around each other prior to the collision.
Whitefish                     