RedactedNarrative: On 7/7/22 at approximately 3:38pm, a boating incident occurred on lake norman near channel marker r3.  The vessel was a bennington pontoon boat with a starboard side console.  The boat was owned by safe harbor marina and was rented by operator.  There were 9 total passengers on board.  The victim was sitting at the passenger area near the bow on the starboard side.  The operator of the vessel turned slightly to the port side just as victim stood up.  When victim stood up, he ell over the railing of the pontoon hitting his head on the front platform.  His momentum from the fall caused him to fall into the water after striking his head.  Victim never resurfaced.
  
  The 9 friends and family members had rented this pontoon from safe harbor marina earlier in the day.    The occupants admitted to drinking hard seltzers throughout the day.  Passengers stated that the victim was very impaired and was at the point of passing out from intoxication.  Two others on the boat were already passed out from intoxication.  
  
  Victim was seated at the starboard bow.  He stood up while the boat was travelling at approximately 15mph to move to the port bow side.  As he stood up, the operator turned slightly to the port side.  Victim, being unsteady on his feet from intoxication fell to his right side over the bow rail.  Passengers stated he fell head first and struck his head on the front deck of the pontoon.  The momentum from his fall and the boat turning caused him to go overboard.  He fell overboard off the center of the bow.  
  
  The operator saw this happening and immediately shifted the throttle to neutral and pulled the kill switch shutting the motor off.  After a few seconds of victim not resurfacing, operator started the boat and started doing circles looking for him.  A passenger on board jumped in the water to look for victim.  The passengers called 911.  Cornelius police department was on scene within 3 minutes.  Cornelius officers pulled subject from the water and began looking for victim.  After not finding any evidence of victim at the surface, officers escorted the pontoon back to blthe landing.  An ambulance was called to treat two people for high levels of alcohol intoxication.  They were transported to the hospital for treatment and were released that evening.
  
  A search and rescue effort was conducted by sherrills ford fire department, cornelius fire department, huntersville fire department, cornelius police department and ncwrc.  Victim was found in 15ft of water at the exact location he fell overboard.  He was recovered at 7:27pm by sherrills ford fire department.
  
  The cause of death at this time is still under investigation.  Victim had a small bruise and cut on his forehead from where he hit his head on the deck of the pontoon while falling overboard.  The pontoon was travelling at an approximate speed of 15mph when victim stood up to move to the port side.  The operator simultaneously turned to the port side causing victim to lose his balance.  Victim was thrown overboard and never resurfaced.  A high level of alcohol intoxication was a factor in victim's loss of balance and fall.  The operator admitted to drinking a few alcoholic seltzers earlier in the day.  Upon administering standardized field sobriety tests, officers determined that he was not impaired.  No one was charged as a result of this incident.
  
  