RedactedNarrative: On june 2, 2018, at approximately 8:17 pm, a boating incident occurred in buddle creek, high rock lake in davidson county.  Victim was a passenger on board a personal watercraft (pwc). The pwc (vessel #1) is a 1995, 8'' 4”, sea doo 5873 sp made by bombardier with a water jet, inboard engine. The pwc is registered another person. The operator of the pwc said that he was operating the pwc back to the dock because it was ‘bogged out'' and shut off when he and victim were attempting to go riding.  
  
  Operator says that victim fell off the pwc first causing him to fall off.  Victim was not wearing a life jacket.  Operator said that the cut off switch lanyard was attached to his belt loop and did not turn off the pwc after he and victim fell off causing the pwc to circle around them during the incident.  The cut off switch lanyard was still attached to the ignition after the incident occurred.  According to operator, after falling off the pwc, he began attempting to re-board the pwc and then realized that victim was drowning and heard him call out his name for help.   
  
  After operator tried to pull victim to shore, then on the pwc unsuccessfully, operator could no longer see victim under the water.   Operator was able to re-board the circling pwc and he and other witnesses continued to search for victim.   At approximately 9:30 pm, victim's body was recovered from the area he was last seen.  Once victim's body was identified, senior, along with davidson county sheriff's office met with victim's family to notify them that victim had drowned, and his body had been recovered.
  
  Deputy stated that he did not notice any signs of impairment from the operator of the pwc.  Deputy told me that both witnesses were in the house.  I then took pictures of the pwc that victim had fallen off of.  The pwc was grounded ashore and showed no signs of damage. The cut-off lanyard was intact and still attached and a charged uscg approved fire extinguisher was located on board.  I then went inside the house to interview the witnesses and have them fill out witness statement forms.  Victim's personal bag was located and upon securing, officer smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the bag.  I retrieved a marijuana cigarette, a grinder containing less then 1/2 oz of marijuana, a red circular container of hash oil, and a cigarillo package with one tobacco cigarillo from victim's bag and submitted the evidence to davidson county sheriff's office evidence storage.  
  
  Operator said that victim had gotten to the house at around 7:12pm and talked to operator about going out riding on the pwc.  Operator stated that before riding the pwc, victim had said he was going to smoke marijuana really quickly before riding.  Operator said that victim attempted to ride the pwc alone and he was having issues starting the pwc.  Then operator boarded the pwc.  Operator said the pwc was "bogged out" and shut off when the two men were attempting to go riding, so operator turned the pwc around and headed back to the dock.  Operator said that he was maneuvering the pwc near the dock when victim became unsteady and fell off the pwc.  Victim had his arms around operator's waist and caused operator to fall in immediately after victim fell in.  
  
  Operator said that he cannot remember if he was wearing a life jacket, but he did attach the cut off safety lanyard to his belt loop and for some reason it came off his belt loop without turning off the pwc.  The cut off safety lanyard was unbroken and still attached to the pwc after the incident occurred.  Victim was not wearing a life jacket.  The pwc tightly circled the two men in the water during the incident without an operator according to operator and other witnesses.  Operator said he initially began to try to reboard the pwc and then noticed that victim could not swim and heard him call his name.  Operator said he then tried to pull victim to shore but was pulled underwater by victim.  He then tried to pull victim to the pwc unsuccessfully.  Operator stated he could no longer see victim after these attempts and was able to reboard the pwc and began looking for victim in the water from the pwc.  After operator was not able to see him, he jumped off the pwc and began searching in the water again along with other witnesses.  
  
  It appeared that operator and victim were attempting to head back to dock the pwc, and while maneuvering the pwc, victim fell off and operator fell off immediately after.  The pwc did not turn off and continued to circle the two men during the incident.  Operator attempted to assist victim to shore then onto the pwc unsuccessfully and then began searching for victim from the pwc after he was able to reboard.  Multiple witnesses began to assist in the search for victim prior to emergency personnel arriving.
  
  Around 9:30pm, emergency personnel recovered victim's body from the water.  The depth of the water where the body was recovered was located approximately 6' 6".  Victim was not wearing a pfd.  There were no signs of criminal activity and according to the medical examiner no other signs of trauma were present, and cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning.  No charges were filed as a result of this incident.
  