On May 2, 2011 at around 19:11 a white/red triton bass boat and a white/purple jet ski collided at a nearly perpendicular angle approximately 300 yards upstream of Hwy 11E bridge on Boone Lake in Sullivan County at Bluff City. The operator of the jet ski (V2) was seriously injured and spent the night in the hospital. The operator of the bass boat (V1) and his passenger were not injured. I arrived shortly after the incident and found EMS attending to V2 Operator who was still on the stern of V1 with a possible broken left elbow. The operator of V1 and his passenger were also on the dock and briefly described what had happened. V1Operator said that they were heading upstream to the Bluff City ramp and as they passed under the Hwy11E bridge he saw V2 300-400yds ahead of him toward the right of the channel. V1Operator then said that he let off of the throttle and started slowing down to see where V2 was going. V1Operator then said that V2 crossed from the right in front of him between 75 and 100 feet and then turned sharply back to the left and collided with his bow. V1Operator said that he had slowed down to almost idle at the time of the collision. He said that he put the boat into reverse immediately to keep from running over V2 Operator. V1Operator statement is consistent with the damage on V2. I have talked to several eyewitnesses who gave statements consistent with V1Operator.

 There are two witnesses who described V2 coming up stream from 11E bridge toward the right of the channel and V1 coming up from the center of the channel. They said that V1 slowed down after passing under the bridge and that V2 crossed in front of V1 without looking downstream and that V2 crossed back in front of V1 from the left and they collided. They said that V2 never looked before turning either direction. I talked with V2 Operator and his statement had similarities with the others but he said that he did not see or hear V1 until he was being hit. He said that he was traveling upstream to the right of the channel and was looking for his friends. He did not see them and decided to turn around and go back downstream. He said that he did a 180 degree turn in a 10 foot radius and then saw V1 at his right and the collision occurred.

 I checked both vessels for registration and safety equipment and found that V2 did not have his registration numbers and decal displayed, he did not have a visible HIN displayed,and his kill switch was modified with a zip tie to keep it from killing the engine. I checked the damage to V2 and found that the bow eye of V1 came into contact with the starboard side of V2 cutting a gash from the bumper rail up to the engine cover. The steering column was broken at the handle bars and has a gash up the side consistent with coming into contact with the trolling motor of V1. There is fiberglass consistent with V2 on the bow eye of V1. The damage with both vessels is consistent with a near perpendicular collision with V1 colliding with the starboard side of  V2.

Based on the operators and witness statements and the damage to both vessels it appears that V2 Operator did not make proper lookout while crossing in front of V1Operator and was reckless in doing so and the collision occured. V1Operator was slowing down to assess the jet skis actions but was not able  to avoid V2 Operators turn into his boat. There is Probable Cause to believe that V2 Operator violated TCA 69-9-209 Rule and Regulation 1660-2-3-.07 Inland steering and sailing Rule 5 Look-out, TCA 69-9-216 reckless operation of a vessel,TCA 69-9-207 failure to display registration number and decal, and TCA 69-9-503 violation of engine cut off switch. These violations are preliminary and will be discussed with the Sullivan County DA offfice for authorization.

BLUFF CITY                    