On July 4, 2012 Sgt. and I were patrolling Lake Tobesofkee by vessel.  At approximately 1620 hours we received a report of a boating incident near the Harbour Club Apartments across from Claystone Park.  Sgt. and I arrived at the scene at approximately 1631 hours.  I saw a Sunchaser pontoon boat with registration GA 6468 EM, which was involved in the incident, near the bank of the apartments.  I could hear children crying on the pontoon boat as we approached.  Additionally, I saw the other boat involved in the incident, a Welcraft cabin boat with registration GA 6056 UC, floating nearby.  I immediately boarded the pontoon boat as we pulled up to it.  I asked who was injured and I was told three juvenile ages six, nine, and fifteen were injured while being towed behind the pontoon boat on a tube.  Within minutes after I boarded the pontoon boat, EMS personnel arrived and I assisted with removing the victims from the boat.  Meanwhile, Sgt. was talking to the driver of the cabin boat.  While on the pontoon boat I noticed several beer bottles lying in the floor of the pontoon boat in a clear trash bag.  

After the victims were taken off the boat and being carried to ambulances I talked to Operator1, the driver of the pontoon boat.  Operator1 said he was towing the three victims on a tube behind the pontoon boat.  Operator1 told me he saw a boat to his left, looked back to his right, and the cabin boat was going across the rope he was using to tow the victims.  Operator1 admitted to consuming alcohol.  Operator1 stated he had "like one beer".  Cpl. was now on the scene and asked Operator1 to perform an alcosensor test.  Operator1 agreed and the alcosensor test showed a BAC of .036g.  Operator1 then left in an ambulance with his son.  All three victims were transported to the Medical Center of Central Georgia by ambulance.

After the victims left the scene I returned to the pontoon boat.  Fire Department personnel and I transported the pontoon boat to the Lake Tobesofkee Law Enforcement Dock where it was secured.  At the dock I performed a boating safety inspection on the pontoon boat.  The boat had all the required safety equipment onboard.  I noticed the tow rope mount and a large piece of aluminum had been ripped off the back of the pontoon boat due to the pressure on the rope when the tube struck the cabin boat.  After examining the pontoon boat and talking to the remaining pontoon occupants, I was able to determine there were nine people on the pontoon when the three children being towed struck the side of the cabin boat.

While I was at the dock, a third boat with two occupants who witnessed the incident arrived.  Both gave me written witness statements.  One person wrote in his witness statement that the pontoon boat was barely moving and the cabin boat was barely moving, if at all, when the tube hit the side of the cabin boat.  he stated the pontoon boat was angled in front of the cabin boat.  Additionally, he stated the cabin boat was barely moving, if at all, when the tube being pulled by the pontoon struck the cabin boat.  Both witnesses stated the tube struck the cabin boat while the cabin boat was either moving very slow or not moving at all.  They stated they jumped in the lake and rendered aide to the victims after the collision.



MACON                         