On July 4, 2012 at approximately 01:00 hours Natural Resource Officer (NRO) was called by the Montgomery County Sheriff Dispatch about an injury boat accident at Elk City Reservoir. NRO responded to the boat ramp at Elk City State Park and met with sheriff deputies and EMS. As NRO arrived, EMS left with the female victim in route to Mercy ER in Independence for massive bleeding from lacerations to the arm. 

After EMS left, NRO made contact with the vessel operator. Operator was very agitated and did not want to talk to NRO. NRO told him to get his boat registration and driver''s license. Operator walked down to a boat that was parked in the dock, while NRO spoke with Deputy. Deputy1 said that he had spoke with Operator when they arrived. Operator told Deputy1 that his sister and he were out on the boat, when Sister fell out. Operator thought after Sister fell out, he may have hit her with the propeller of the boat. Once EMS had got Sister out of the boat and into the ambulance, Deputy1 said that Operator started saying "I can''t believe I did this to her, I told her to go to the front of the boat and it would feel faster. Then I hit a wave and she fell out." Deputy1 what Operator was doing before he hit the wave. Operator said that he was twisting the boat from side to side; he said when he hit the wave with the left side of the boat, Sister fell out the left side of the boat. When Sister fell out Operator brought the tail end of the boat around and that is when he thought the propeller hit her.

Before Operator came back with the boat registration, NRO asked the two deputies if Operator had been drinking. Both deputies said that Operator had been drinking, so I asked Deputy to administer a preliminary breath test on Operator. Operator reluctantly agreed to the test and the result was a breath concentration of .096. NRO asked Operator to perform a couple more test which he refused to do so. Operator was arrested for Boating Under the Influence (BUI) and transported to the Montgomery Department of Correction (DOC) by Deputy for further testing. NRO stayed at the scene to process evidence and secure the boat with the help of Park Ranger. 

After the boat was photographed and evidence collected, NRO secured the boat and trailer in a locked building at the Elk City State Park compound. Ranger spoke with a fisherman that was out on the water about the time the accident happened. The fisherman said that he saw the boat going very fast and making sharp 180 degree turns. Witness just witnessed the reckless behavior and did not see the accident. After receiving this information from Ranger, NRO went to Mercy ER to talk with the victim Sister. In route to the ER, Deputy contacted NRO and told him that Operator had refused to the breath test after being read the implied consent advisory. NRO told Deputy that he would come to DOC and charge Operator with BUI, BUI Test Refusal, and Prohibited Operation. 

Once NRO got to the ER, he made contact with Operator''s wife and Sister''s mother. NRO gave a wallet and the keys to Operator''s wife. NRO explained to her that Operator was under arrest for BUI and that the boat was being stored for evidence. After speaking with Operator’s wife, NRO spoke with the ER doctor. Dr. told NRO that Sister had a 9 cm laceration to her right arm in the crook of the elbow. The laceration was so bad that they had to life flight her to Wichita to see a trauma surgeon due to the ER being unable to get a pulse in the right wrist. NRO asked if there were any other injuries. DR. said that there was a small laceration on the back of the rig...
Independence                  