RedactedNarrative: On July 9, 2019 a little after midnight, I, Sergeant, received a phone call from Raleigh Communications about a capsized vessel on Belews Lake.  I contacted Lt. with Rockingham County Sheriff's Office about the incident.  After our conversation and learning there were no injuries and that the victim of the incident was safe at home, I called the vessel owner. 
  
  He stated that he and his wife own a 20-foot Bayliner and they operated the vessel all weekend, but it started having engine troubles on the day before.  His friend was a mechanic and took the boat out on this particular evening to make sure it was running ok and also scout for places to catfish. 
  
  The vessel operator stated that the boat never would get on plane.  He drove the vessel approximately 1.5 miles before the engine shut off and would not restart.  He claimed that as soon as the boat cut off, water started coming over the back and he had to jump off the boat as the bow went straight up in the air.  He was able to swim to a pontoon boat safely.  
  
  The Bayliner swamped and capsized leaving only a few feet of the bottom of the boat out of the water.  Officer and I located the vessel upside down at 08:30 that morning.  The boat had drifted nearly 2 miles overnight.  Upon inspection of the boat, there was no drain plug in the boat and I suspect that the vessel was already taking on water before he drove it from the dock.  It is unclear how the drain plug came out during operation, but the owner and operator are certain that the plug was in over the entire holiday weekend and they left the boat tied up to a dock.  Estimated property damage includes engine, tools on board the vessel, and fish finder all valued at $4200 combined.
  
  
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