RedactedNarrative: On sunday, july 10, 2022 at approximately 02:15 hours, a boating incident occurred on high rock lake resulting in serious injuries to the operator of the vessel.  The vessel involved was a playcraft pontoon boat that was owned by operator at the time of the incident.  The vessel was occupied by operator and two other passengers.  Operator was the only person injured in this incident.
  
  Operator and his passengers were traveling south at the outh of abbott's creek on high rock lake at approximately 20mph.  Operator stated that as he was operating the vessel, he heard his green fishing light hitting the bottom of the vessel.  He realized that he had forgotten to pull it in after fishing.  He walked to the front of the vessel to pull it in without reducing speed and leaving the boat in gear.  He was able to pull the light back on board, but before he could walk back to the cockpit, the vessel's engine lost power and cut off for unknown reasons.  
  
  This sudden loss in propulsion caused operator to fall off the front of the vessel.  Although the vessel had lost engine power, it was still moving forward and ran over operator.  The lower unit and propeller on the outboard engine struck him in the head and face causing multiple fractures to his left jaw requiring surgery and lacerations to the top of his head and bottom of his chin. 
  
  Operator' daughter was on board and witnessed the incident.  She immediately threw him a type 4 pfd and then jumped in the water to help operator.  She began screaming for help.  The other passenger was highly intoxicated and asleep at the time of the incident.  He woke up because of the commotion.  Three fishermen were in a boat nearby, heard daughter screaming for help and immediately went to assist.  They were able to get operator and daughter into their boat and dialed 911 at approximately 02:15 hours.  They immediately transported them to the southmont boating access to wait for emergency personnel.
  
  Master officer with the ncwrc law enforcement division received a call for this incident at approximately 02:37 hours and arroved on scene at southmont boat access at approximately 03:15 hours.  When he arrived, operator had already been transported from the scene to baptist hospital in winston salem.  Officer spoke with southmont fire department staff and a davidson county sheriff's deputy to get a brief summary of what had occurred.  The davidson county deputy then told officer that occupant2 had driven the pontoon boat back to shore and was highly intoxicated.  The deputy stated that when occupant2 arrived on shore, he jumped off the boat, started running away and was screaming "i'm going to jail! I'm going to jail!"  the deputy was able to detain him until officer arrived.  Officer then performed the seated battery of stst's and formed the opinion that occupant2 was under the influence of an impairing substance.  Occupant2 submitted to a preliminary breath test on scene.  The results of the pbt were positive with a reading of .20 at 0344 hours.  He refused the second test on pbt.  Sgt with ncwrc arrived on scene at approximately 0359 hours and did a more thorough interview with witnesses and obtained witness statements while officer placed occupant2 under arrest for operating while impaired and transported him to davidson county jail in lexington for intox and processing.  Occupant2 submitted to a breath test on the intoxylizer and provded readings of .20 at 0456 hours and .21 at 0459 hours.  Officer determined that occupant2's impairment was not a factor in this incident.
  
  After processing occupant2 at davidson county jail, officer and sgt then travelled to baptist hospital in winston salem to interview operator.  They arrived at approximately 0703 hours and were immediately given access to speak with operator.  He reiterated the stories given by other witnesses that he walked to the front of the vessel without reducing speed to retrieve the fishing light that was hanging off the bow.  He admitted that this was not a smart decision, but that he had been having some engine trouble and was afraid that if he did reduce throttle, his engine would cut off and he would not be able to get it started again.  
  
  He stated that as he brought the light on board, the engine suddenly lost power and cutt off, causing him to fall forward off the bow.  The vessel continued moving orward and ran over him.  The lower unit and the propeller of the outboard engine impacted his face and head causing the injuries to his head, jaw and chin.  Office askd if he had been drinking before this incident.  He stated that from about 1700 hours to the time of the incident, he had drank 2 beers and 3 shots of fireball whiskey.  Operator then gave officer and sgt consent to view his blood alcohol level from a blood test taken when he arrived at the hospital.  The result of that blood test was .047.
  
  operator has had many years of boating experience but has never taken a boater education class.  The cause of this incident is careless and reckless operation of a vessel and mechanical failure.  Although operator admitted to drinking before the incident, his blood alcohol concentration was .047 and ruled not to be a factor in this incident.  Operator will not be charged with any criminal offenses.
  
  **please note:  this report was manually entered into bard due to transmission issues between report beam and bard**
  
  ***bard:  please do not delete this report***
  
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