RedactedNarrative: On saturday june 20th 2020 at approximately 7:30 pm, i was notified by steuben county dispatch that they had just received a call regarding a boat accident that had occurred on lake james.  Dispatch advised that the owners had already exchanged information but the operator of one of the boats involved (a pontoon) was possibly intoxicated.  
  
  Officer1 and i advised we would be in route to investigate further.  I first made a phone call to the reporting party. I spoke over the phone with operator2 who advised that he was at his cottage.  Officer1 and i drove to meet with operator2 and arrived at his house at approximately 7:45 pm.  I asked operator2 to explain what had happened.  
  
  Operator2 stated some passengers inside his boat had just finished swimming and had re-boarded his boat.  They were sitting stationary when they noticed a pontoon headed straight in their direction.  At the last second before impact, the pontoon turned left to try to avoid a collision; however, the starboard side of the pontoon struck the starboard side of operator2's boat.  
  
  Operator2 stated the pontoon stopped and they had exchanged information.  Operator2 stated that he believed the operator of the pontoon was possibly intoxicated because they noticed open containers of alcohol on the boat.  Operator2 also stated that he spoke with a woman on the boat who identified herself as boat owner.  Operator2 said that as they spoke, the driver of the boat (a man) never said a word but allowed v2 owner to speak on his behalf.  Operator2 advised us that he was trading in his boat for a new one and had already made an agreement for trade in value.  Operator2 stated the damage appeared minimal, however, he would like it documented with a report.  Officer1 took photographs of the damage to the starboard side of operator2s boat.  There appeared to be two large scuffs marks in the paint.  The photographs are attached to this report.  
  
  Next, we went to speak with the operator of the pontoon.  We arrived and saw two men and two women sitting on the front deck overlooking lake james eating dinner.  I approached the group and explained that we were doing some follow up on a report of a boat accident.  I asked who was at driving the boat at the time of the accident and a man stated he was.  I asked operator1 what had happened and he said that he was operating his pontoon near the northwest corner of lake james just before the incident occurred.  He stated that the nose of his pontoon was raised making it difficult to see over.  
  
  Operator1 stated, as he got closer, he saw operator2's boat and attempted to turn to avoid a collision.  The starboard side of operator1's pontoon struck the starboard side of operator2s boat.  Officer1 asked operator1 if he had been drinking any alcohol and he stated no, he does not drink alcohol at all.  Based on our personal contact, we did not observe any indicators that operator1 had been drinking.  We did not notice any odor of alcoholic beverages coming from his breath, his balance and speech appeared normal.  We asked operator1 to show us the damage to his pontoon.  We noticed a significant dent in the front portion of the right pontoon as well as scrape marks down nearly the entire right side of his boat.  Officer1 documented the damage by taking photographs, which were consistent with the account of what had happened from both parties.
  
  We cleared from operator1's residence at approximately 8:25 pm
  