On July 1, 2023 at approximately 6:00pm, I, Cpl., was notified by the Maryland Natural Resources Police Communications Center to respond to the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center for a male subject with an injury that occurred on a boat.  I arrived at the hospital at 6:05pm and the Charles County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Ambulance arrived at 6:18pm with the victim.

    I spoke with the victim inside the hospital, and he stated that he and a few other people were drifting on a vessel in Goose Creek near the mouth of the Port Tobacco River.  Victim stated that he went towards the back right corner of the vessel to pull up the vessel's ladder which was hanging in the water.  When doing so, he slipped on some rain water that was on the vessel from the storm that had just passed through the area.  

When Victim slipped, he fell and struck the vessel's rear right cleat with the lower right side of his abdomen.  As a result, the cleat impaled Victim's abdomen, leaving him dangling from the vessel.  Victim stated that he was able to hoist himself up with his arms “like a man” and immediately told the others onboard to start the boat and get him to Goose Bay Marina (9365 Goose Bay Lane, Welcome, MD 20693) for medical assistance.  

Victim stated that the incident began roughly at 5:30pm.  He also stated that he believed that he nearly lost consciousness a few times and that his vision seemed to be fading in and out.  While at the hospital, Victim was in good spirits and was able to describe the incident, however he could not provide any details about the vessel he was aboard or the registered owner.

    On July 2, 2023, I went to Goose Bay Marina to view camera footage to get identifying numbers off of the vessel.  The footage was distorted due to rain droplets on the camera lens.  When pausing the camera footage, the still images were very blurry and zooming in on the image made it worse.  As a result, I was unable to identify the vessel's owner and the registration numbers.  I was able to see that the vessel was a white ski boat with a blue stripe, approximately 20 feet in length.  After viewing the footage, I asked the employee working in the office if he knew the owner of the vessel.  He stated that he did not and that he didn't recognize that boat or the owner as a frequent customer.

    On July 8, 2023, I met with the victim once again, this time at his residence.  He was still adamant that he was not familiar with whose boat he was on.  He just stated that "people" were having fun, and he ended up on that boat, and then he slipped on it trying to retrieve that ladder that was hanging in the water.  This is the same information that he gave at the hospital.

    After leaving the victim's residence, I went back to Goose Bay Marina and spoke with a different person working in the office.  He was able to provide me with different camera footage that the previous employee was unable to find.  I was able to obtain a clear image from the camera.  The vessel that the victim slipped on is a 2000, white and blue, 20'3'' Stingray 200LX bearing Maryland registration with a hull identification number.  The camera image was from July 1, 2023, at 2:02pm when the vessel arrived at the marina and was preparing to be launched.

    On July 9, 2023, I met with the owner and operator of the vessel at his residence.  He was able to provide the names of the other individuals on the vessel at the time of the incident.  He also described the incident just as the victim did.
    All events occurred in Charles County, Maryland.

Goose Creek, Welcome
Welcome                       