ON JULY 5TH, 2009 AGENTS OF THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, RESPONDED REGARDING A BOAT ACCIDENT. UPON THEIR ARRIVAL, AGENTS LEARNED THAT AT APPROX 1330 HRS. operator OF COVINGTON, LOUISIANA, THE OWNER/OPERATOR OF A 1989 KENNER CENTER CONSOLE BEARING LOUISIANA REGISTRATION LA-8834-EE, WAS OPERATING HIS VESSEL ON BAYOU BONFOUCO, OUTBOARD PULLING HIS GIRLFRIEND AND HER 14 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER ON AN INFLATABLE TUBE. OPERATOR ADMITTED TO TRAVELING IN A ZIG-ZAG FASHION IN ORDER TO GET THE TUBE TO JUMP HIS WAKE. WHEN HE DID THIS, GIRLFRIEND & HER DAUGHTER WENT OVER THE WAKE AND WERE THROWN HARD TOWARDS THE WESTERN SHORE, CAUSING THE INFLATABLE TUBE TO GO AIRBORNE & DUNPING THEM INTO THE SHALLOWS NEAR A ROCK LADEN SHORELINE. GIRLFRIEND AND HER DAUGHTER WERE TRANSPORTED BY AMBULANCE TO THE HEART HOSPITAL IN LACOMBE, LA. WHERE THEY WERE TREATED FOR MINOR LACERATIONS, ABRASIONS AND CONTUSIONS. GIRLFRIEND SUFFERED THE MOST SERIOUS INJURY, A FRACTURED ANKLE. DURING THE COURSE OF THE INVESTIGATION, AGENTS DETERMINED THAT OPERATOR WAS IN VIOLATION OF STATE LAW BY OPERATING HIS VESSEL IN A RECKLESS MANNER WHILE PULLING THE INFLATABLE TUBE. HE DID SO BY OPERATING HIS VESSEL IN A FASHION THAT WAS INDIFFERENT TO OTHER TRAFFIC & BY TURNING SO CLOSE TO THE WESTERN BANK, WHICH CAUSED GIRLFRIEND AND HER DAUGHTER TO BE THROWN FROM THE TUBE INTO THE SHALLOW WATER, RESULTING IN THE AFOREMENTIONED INJURIES. OPERATOR WAS ISSUED CITATION AND CITED IN ACCORDANCE WITH LRS 34:851.5 "RECKLESS OPERATION". DURING THE COURSE OF THE INVESTIGATION , IT WAS DETERMINED OPERATOR WAS IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH ALL SAFETY REGULATIONS AND ALCOHOL WAS NOT A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN THIS ACCIDENT.
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