RedactedNarrative: On 07/04/2020 at approximately 1:03PM, I, Officer of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, responded to a capsized pontoon in the area of Holy Cross on Deep Creek Lake, Garrett County, Maryland. As I arrived on scene, I witnessed a black pontoon vessel bearing Maryland registration MD3768LB capsized in the water. Local recreational boaters had already responded to help the passengers of the capsized pontoon, extracting everyone on the capsized pontoon from the water. All members were accounted for and put on other vessels when I arrived on the scene. Officer had arrived on the scene and started Garrett EMS to a nearby dock for three injured passengers. A Local fire boat assisted at the accident as well. Photographs were taken at the scene of the accident. The pontoon safely floated to a shallow area of the lake, marked with "Danger" buoys. The upper deck of the pontoon beached itself to the bottom of the lake and was out of the way of recreational boat traffic.
  
  Both NRP vessels took the non injured passengers to a nearby unoccupied dock at Holy Cross. The injured passengers were transported to the same dock on a recreational pontoon by a good Samaritan. Garrett EMS arrived at dock to take the injured passengers to Garrett Regional Medical Center for evaluation. After EMS had transported the injured passengers to Garrett Regional Medical Center, two local marina boats arrived to the tow the capsized pontoon to the Deep Creek Lake State Park boat ramp. I escorted six passengers on vessel NRP 881 back to Deep Creek Marina where they had rented the pontoon. 
  
  I wore my state issued mask for COVID-19 precautions while transporting the passengers to Deep Creek Marina. All passengers were transported safely back to Deep Creek Marina. Officer stayed at the scene to help escort the two local marina boats towing the capsized vessel. Witness statements and information were taken at the marina immediately. Due to information from the hospital, I was directed to stay clear of the passengers I had escorted, and leave the marina immediately for COVID-19 precautions and possible exposure. 
  
  A thorough and immediate investigation couldn't be performed at this time with the passengers and operator that I had taken to the marina. Assistance was needed by Officer and Sgt. for the safe escort of the capsized pontoon to the Deep Creek Lake State Park boat ramp.
  
  OFC., Sgt. and I successfully escorted the two marina tow boats to the Deep Creek Lake State Park boat ramp by keeping recreational boat traffic far away from the tow boats. As all boats arrived to the ramp safely, all NRP patrol vessels were sprayed with disinfectant by the State Fire Marshal for COVID-19 precautions. The capsized vessel was turned right side up again by Deep Creek Marina's fork lift and escorted back on its respective trailer. Photographs were taken at the boat ramp.
  
  Interviews were conducted the following day (07/05/2020) with the operator and a passenger at Deep Creek Marina. Operator stated that no passengers were on the vessel's upper deck while in transit, passengers were equally distributed, and that water had opened the front bow door causing the vessel to flood. Operator stated that Occupant1 had moved to a position to move the throttle lever in an attempt to save the vessel when they noticed the vessel door swing open and the vessel begin to flood. Occupant1 also stated that water had opened the front bow door which started to flood the pontoon. In an attempt to possibly save the pontoon, Occupant1 said he moved to a position where he could move the throttle lever forward increasing the acceleration of the pontoon's engine, which didn't save the boat. Photo copies of witness statements and passenger information collected by marina staff on 07/04/2020 were given to me and have been attached to this report
  
  Also on 07/05/20, the vessel was inspected to determine what possibly could have happened. No mechanical failures were found while visually inspecting the vessel.  No evidence was found to show that any of the three floats of the pontoon could have been flooded with water, which could have led to capsizing. Photos were taken of the pontoon's water line which displayed an equal height on every pontoon float. Body weights for all passengers were obtained via phone call.  The body weights of all passengers alone (not including the two dogs onboard or any gear) exceeded the capacity for vessel MD 3768LB by 270 pounds respectively. The capacity plate states 14 people or 2000 pounds.
  
  Finally on 07/05/20 I learned that one person suffered a minor concussion and neck strain, another suffered a minor concussion and shoulder sprain and yet another suffered a minor concussion.
  
  On 07/06/2020 I, Officer recovered security video evidence from a lake house. The owner of the house was able to give me video evidence of the pontoon traveling south on the lake. After obtaining the video and watching it several times, it displayed the black double decker pontoon traveling at a slow rate of speed (10-12mph) and no passengers on the upper deck of the vessel. While observing the video, its clear I could see the pontoon traveling low to the water and splashing water over the front deck when hitting wakes. The video doesn't capture the capsizing of the pontoon. Unfortunately a large tree blocks this view on camera. I can articulate that this is vessel MD 3768 LB on the video that capsized due to the structure of the pontoon,  black color, upper deck, multiple boats rushing to the scene after it capsized, date and time, and that the pontoon never fully passed behind the tree in the video. Right before vessel MD 3768 LB disappears behind the tree in the video, two vessels, one traveling at a speed of approximately 10-15 mph, and the other at a speed of approximately 20-25mph, created large wakes. These two large wakes contributed to the capsize incident.
  
  Phone numbers were obtained from other witnesses who were on Deep Creek Lake during the accident. I spoke to witnesses who advised he witnessed the pontoon capsize to the starboard side, and that he couldn't see any passengers on the upper deck or tell if the vessel was equally distributed with passenger weight. A passenger stated that the operator had little boating experience. Two occupants also claimed the weight of the passengers was equally distributed throughout the vessel and it rolled starboard when capsizing. All witness statements claim the front bow door swung open and water started to rush inside the boat. 
  
  With all evidence that I have gathered for this incident, I reasonably believe the following is what contributed to the capsizing of MD 3768 LB:  From the security video it is apparent that MD 3768 LB it was traveling north from the  Deep Creek Lake Yacht Club area. The vessel was traveling low in the water due to its over weight capacity which should have been observed before getting underway by the operator. No passenger was on the upper deck of the pontoon while underway. The two passing vessels on the starboard side of MD 3768 LB created large wakes that contributed to the capsizing. When the operator came across the large wakes, the front bow gate was forced open by the water pressure caused by the waves of the passing vessel crashing across the bow, and the rate of speed from the pontoon. Water entered
  