RedactedNarrative: On 05/15/2017 at approximately 11:03pm, a boating incident occurred on lake norman 400 yards southwest of marker r4 in ramsey creek.  Vessel #1 was a 21-foot yamaha sx210 pleasure boat with twin yamaha 110hp jet engines.  The boat had two consoles and a windshield on both sides.  His friend was sitting in the rear bench seat on the port side of the vessel   at the time of the incident.   
  
  Vessel #2 was a 19-foot 2010 ranger bass boat with a 225hp evinrude outboard motor.  The boat had a starboard side console. His fishing partner was sitting in the passenger seat on the port side of the vessel   at the time of the incident vessel #2 struck vessel #1 at approximately 45mph at a 90-degree angle on the starboard side.  Vessel #2 on impact travelled through vessel #1 and exited on the port side.  The impact threw operator1 in the water and caused both passengers in the bass boat to thrust forward and collide with the bottom of the boat. 
  
  The two men on vessel #2 were participating in a monday night bass fishing tournament.  They had been fishing along the shoreline near blythe landing.  At approximately 11:00 pm, the operator began to idle out towards the main channel. The man and woman aboard vessel #1 were adrift chatting and hanging out approximately 150 yards off the point of weatherly way in mecklenburg county.   
  
  Vessel #2 continued to idle out 70 yards from the shoreline and began to get up on plane.  The operator stated to me that he took a while to get on plane so that he would not awake anybody in the houses on the adjacent shoreline.  They got up on plane and traveled 10-15 seconds traveling north to head back to queens landing.  The estimated speed was up to 45mph when the boat suddenly impacted vessel #1.   
  
  Before impact, the passenger and operator on board vessel #1 heard a boat in the distance.  The operator of vessel #1 who was in the back of the boat stood up and walked to the area of the driver's console.  The other occupant was lying down and sat up when she heard the boat coming.  
  
  The impact occurred at a direct 90-degree angle into the starboard side at the driver's console of the vessel #1.  The bass boat ramped up and travelled all the way through and exited the port side of the boat.  The operator of vessel #1 was struck by vessel #2 on the right side of his head and the force of the impact caused him to be ejected from the boat.  The passenger of vessel #1 was struck by an unknown piece of debris causing a bruise on the left side of her arm.  
  
  The passenger of vessel #2 was thrown to the bottom of the boat upon impact and suffered injuries to both eyes and nose.  The driver of vessel #2 was thrusted forward on impact and sustained a cut to the back of his head coming from a piece of debris off of vessel #1.   Glass debris from the windshield of vessel #1 was scattered everywhere in both vessels resulting in small cuts to all persons.  
  
   Immediately after the impact, v1 occupant began to search for operator1.  The two men on vessel #2 stated they heard the passenger onboard the pleasure boat say “i reckon we didn't have our lights on.”   The operator of vessel #2 cranked his boat back up and began to go towards vessel #1.   
  
  V1 occupant began calling out for operator1 and realized he must have been ejected into the water but stated she never heard him splash or yell for help.   V1 occupant began to yell for help and heard a voice from the shoreline say that 911 had been called.   Ten minutes later cornelius police department arrived and transported the two men from vessel #2 to a nearby dock at 16100 weatherly way.   
  
  Cornelius fire boat arrived on scene shortly after and transported v1 occupant to the same dock.  All three were taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment.   Vessel #2 had been anchored at the location where it was found.  Initial observation of the boat was that there was extensive damage to the center of the hull where the drivers and passenger console were located.  Both consoles including the steering wheel and dashboard were missing.  Fire boats were on scene scanning the bottom and area looking for the missing operator1.  The search was called off due to nighttime conditions and relevant time after the incident occurred.  I stayed with the pleasure boat to continue the investigation.  I noted the weather was clear, calm, dark night.  There was no moon visible at the time i arrived and it began to come up around 0100am.  I noted and photographed the evidence of vessel 1 and noted no navigation lights were on and the rear stern light was not in the hole and the cover was closed.  The wiring from the console of the boat were hanging out of the port side indicating the exit of vessel 2. 
  
  Once the scene was secured, i went to the dock where vessel 2 was located.  The bow light was still on and the stern light was broken off but hanging by a rope into the water.  The light was bent indicating it had been in an upright position at the time of the incident.  The navigation light panel switch was also in the on position.  
  
  Blood splatter on the passenger floorboard indicated where the passenger in the bass boat struck his head on the floor carpet.  Once the evidence was photographed, both vessels were taken by towboat us to their locked storage facility.  The following day, was spent assisting charlotte fire and other local agencies recovering the missing operator.  At around 7:10pm, operator1 was recovered at the bottom of lake norman approx 200 yds off the shoreline from weatherly way point and pronounced deceased.  It was noted by the charlotte dive team that there was significant boat debris on the lake bottom near the location where he was found.  The next week was spent gathering evidence and investigating both boats and injuries of all parties involved.  V1 occupant, the passenger in vessel 1 was released around 04:00am the same night from the hospital with several bruises and a sprained left knee.  the passenger in v2 had significant head injuries and injuries to his right eye.  He stayed in the hospital for several days and was released.  the operator of v2 had a laceration to the back of his head and bruises to the right side of his body, and was released the next day.
  
  Upon investigating this incident, through multiple witness statements and interviews, it was determined the cause of the incident occurred from v1 adrift with no navigation lights on as evidence points to this as well as witness statements  noting that only the only vessel he saw was the bass boat traveling at a high rate of speed with the navigation lights on, which concurs with the physical evidence and both occupants in the bass boat who stated they never saw the boat until it was right in front of them and never saw navigation lights.  It was apparent that the light on v1 had been on early that evening around 8:15pm but was likely not on during the incident.  Vessel 1, operator1, was at fault in this incident and no charges were filed at this time due to the fact that the operator is the deceased.
  
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