On 7/3/09, I KDWP Officer 1 was patrolling Pomona lake by patrol boat.  At approximately 3:48 pm I was contacted by Witness 1with the Pomona Corps of Engineers about a boat accident that had just occurred at the North Shore Marina.  I arrived on scene at 3:54 pm.  I observed a blue Glastron boat setting on top of a red VIP boat that was setting in the North Shore Marinas boat dock.  The blue boat was also partially setting on the marinas boat dock.  The red boat was taking on water.  I contacted KDWP Officer Witness 1  to assist me.  I also requested a Pomona State Parks officer to respond to help with witnesses.

The blue Glastron boat appeared to have contacted a dock west of where it currently now rested on the red VIP boat. The blue Glastron boat appeared to have been launched up over that dock and clear an empty boat stall and strike a marina brace pole and then come down on the boat in another boat stall.  I asked Witness 1with the Corps of Engineers who was there to take some pictures for my investigation.

I asked other people standing around the boats if anyone was hurt. They replied no. I asked if they knew where the operators of the boats were located.  They said Operator 1was the driver of the blue boat and no one was in the red boat.  Someone said Operator 1 was over on the other side of the Marina getting a work boat with a boom to get the boats off one another. I walked over to the south end of the marina where I contacted Operator 1.  I told Operator 1that I needed to talk with him.  I allowed Operator 1and other marina workers to secure the two boats so as to prevent the red boat from taking on water.

I then asked anyone who witnessed what happened if they would give me a witness statement.  I had several witnesses come forward and give me written statements. I had several witnesses tell me they thought the operator of the blue boat had been drinking. As approximately 4:20 I interviewed Operator 1and asked him to perform a few tests to ensure he was not an impaired boat operator. I asked Operator 1how many alcoholic beverages he had consumed before operating the boat. Operator 1indicated he had one earlier, I told Operator 1that other witnesses indicated he had more than one. He then admitted to three since noon.  I saw no signs of impairment during testing but asked Operator 1to take a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT). Operator 1agreed to the test.  Officer arrived and tested Operator 1with a PBT.  The results indicated a .008.  This also showed no evidence of impairment.

I then asked Operator 1to tell me what happened from the time he began to operate the boat to the time after the accident.  Operator 1told me he worked for the marina and he was operating the boat during the time of the accident.  Operator 1indicated the boat was put on the water earlier that afternoon to test how well it was operating so the marina could possibly rent it out over the holiday weekend.  Operator 1indicated he left the marina and had trouble keeping the boat running and had to reach back to the gas tank and pump the priming bulb on the tank to keep the boat running. Operator 1indicated he would let go of the steering wheel to do this and the boat would veer hard to the right. Operator 1indicated he took the boat out to the south of the marina through the no wake zone out to the main part of the lake. Operator 1then indicted he had come back into the no wake zone and made his way down to the docks to put the boat in a boat slip.

Operator 1indicated as he was coming around the end of the docks, the boat began to cut our and he looked back and noticed the fuel tank had over turned.  Operator 1then indicated he let go of the steering and reached back to upright the fuel tank. Operator 1indicated as he did this the boat began to run properly and the steering jerked the boat to the right. Operator 1saw that he was going to hit the dock and attempted to pull back on the throttle. Operator 1thinks he fell forward on to the throttle and it went to full throttle. Operator 1then indicated he dove down into
Michigan Valley               