RedactedNarrative: NOTE: All times and distances are approximate.  All diagrams are not to scale.
  
  SYNOPSIS:On Friday, March 8, 2019, at approximately 1905 hours, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Officers responded to a single vessel accident at Hendry Creek, located in Lee County, Florida. A 2007, 21-foot Maverick vessel (V1) was being operated on plane with one subject on board. While proceeding upstream, the operator failed to successfully navigate a turn causing the vessel to run aground and collide with several mangrove trees. The operator was ejected without wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) and later recovered floating face down in the water. He was administered CPR by Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) and transported to Health Park Hospital by EMS, where he subsequently died from the extent of his injuries.  
  
  Based on evidence and information gathered to date, the accident is a result of the following:
  1. On March 8, 2019, Operator operated V1 upon the waters of the State of Florida with an unlawful blood alcohol level. Toxicology confirmed elevated ethanol concentrations in Operator’s blood (0.170 g/100 ml).
  2. Operator operated V1 at a high rate of speed while preceding upstream along Hendry Creek during low light conditions with no spotlight. He failed to successfully navigate a turn and ran the vessel into the shoreline striking a fixed object (mangrove trees). Operator was ejected into the water, without a life jacket. According to family members, he knew how to swim. According to the District 21 Medical Examiner’s Office, the preliminary cause of death for Operator was drowning.  Conditions that contributed to Operator’s death was blunt trauma of the head and neck.
  
  Elevated ethanol concentration (0.170 g/dl) in postmortem iliac blood  Operator’s injuries were noted during the autopsy. The injuries were consistent with Operator standing near the helm at the time of the collision. He was thrown into the console and subsequently ejected into Hendry Creek.  He was treated for the injuries at Health Park Hospital. He was not wearing a personal flotation device and the engine cut off safety lanyard was not attached to Operator at the time of the accident. According to relatives, Operator had over 100 hours of vessel operating experience and knew how to swim. The District 21 Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that he died from drowning. A contributing cause of death was blunt trauma to his head and neck. Operator’s manner of death was ruled an accident. The toxicology report concluded that there were no common drugs of abuse discovered in Operator’s blood or urine at the time of the autopsy. There was an elevated Ethyl Alcohol concentration (0.170 g/100 ml) discovered in Operator’s postmortem iliac blood at the time of the autopsy. There was 5.8 ng/ml of Eszopiclone / Zopiclone along with caffeine discovered in Operator’s postmortem iliac blood at the time of the autopsy.
  