RedactedNarrative: On March 21, 2015 at approximately 15:13 hrs. I CPL received a call from Towns County Deputy Sheriff in reference to a boating incident that occurred on Lake Chatuge. D/S stated that the victim was cut multiple times by the prop of the boat and was being treated by EMS and flown out by Life Flight. They were standing by at the Ridges Marina Gas dock with driver and occupants of the vessel who appeared to have been drinking. I advised D/S that I would be in route and to observe the driver and occupants of the vessel. I arrived at The Ridges Marina at approximately 15:39 hrs. I retrieved my boating incident report forms and met the deputies at the gas dock. I obtained some general information concerning the boating incident from D/S2 and spoke to the operator of the vessel. I asked Operator what had happened and he said they made a slight left turn while Victim was taking a picture of himself. Victim was standing in the front he right of the center of the boat behind the rail and he just lost his balance while taking a selfie. The boat was travelling full throttle about 15 mph. Victim who was a high school friend had been drinking but was not acting crazy. 20 year old Operator said he was the dad of the group and he had not been drinking. The three other guys onboard had been drinking a little. I walked over where the pontoon was tied to the dock and observed some type of material tangled in the prop of the motor and a lot of blood inside of the pontoon boat. I asked Operator to show me where Victim was standing when he fell overboard and he pointed to the front center of the vessel. I asked where the other guys were sitting and he point to the seat on the far side of the pontoon and said two of the guys were on that side and pointed to the seat in front of the driver seat and one was on that side. I asked Operator what time did the incident occurred and he said that he had rented the pontoon boat at 2:30-2:45 PM and the incident occurred around 3:00 PM. I asked information about boating experience and lake conditions. (See 156 March 2015 VIDMIC 156150321 1550 for video and exact audio, Towns County S.O. Report).
   
  At 16:12hrs. I asked Operator if he had any alcohol today and he said no I asked Operator if he had any last night and he said yes he had stopped drinking about 1:00 AM in the morning. I asked Operator the questions from the BUI Screening Interview form and he said that he had strep and was taking amoxicillin. I asked Operator if he would perform a series of field sobriety exercises to ensure you are safe. Operator stated yes sir absolutely. I conducted the BUI Screening Interview on Operator and completed the exercises at 16:24 hrs. determining that Operator was not under the influence. (156 March 2015 VIDMIC 156150321 1612 for video and exact audio)
   
  At 16:31 hrs. I spoke to subject and Operator about any type of boat education courses or the rental boat education course. They said they were going out on the lake just to hang out. I asked if they were life jackets onboard the vessel and they said yes. I obtained some notes from D/S while he was leaving the scene.  (156 March 2015 VIDMIC 156150321 1631 for video and exact audio)
  At 16:38 hrs. I obtained a written Witness Statement and a Generic Vessel Seating Diagram from Operator. Operator said they rented the boat and after about a 5 minutes in Victim was taking a picture of his self while standing on the front of the boat. The boat was travelling at full speed (15mph) and made a slight left causing Victim to fall overboard over the front of the vessel. Operator could not cut the engine in time and Victim was cut by the engine. They immediately got Victim out of the water, applied pressure to his wounds, called 911and drove back to the Ridges Resort Marina. Operator completed the seating diagram stating that he was the operator of the vessel. (See Operator written statem…
   