Around 2147, I received a call from Officer 2, that there was a two-vessel boat accident on The Ohio River near Petersburg. I arrived before Officer 2 and began to interview the witnesses and operators. According to Vessel 2 operator, V2 Operator, he was in neutral with the motor running. (Facing up River). There were 9 passengers in total on his vessel and they were watching a nearby fireworks show. 

The operator of Vessel 1 is V1 Operator. V1 Operator was operating a Four Winns run-a-about style boat behind V2 Operator's pontoon boat, going the same direction (Occupied 8 times). According to V1 Operator, he was underway and said he was watching the fireworks while he was in operation. V1 Operator did not see V2 Operator and collided with his pontoon boat, striking it on the rear starboard side. A passenger of Vessel 1 told V1 Operator that there was a boat in front of him, so V1 Operator pulled back the throttle and turned right when the collision occured. R

ight before the impact V2 Operator said that he "laid into it" on the throttle, to try to avoid the collision as well. V1 Operator and his occupants, claimed that Vessel 2 did not have their navigational lights on and he did not see Vessel 2. At the time of the collision, V2 Injured was ejected from Vessel 2 and may have been struck by Vessel 1 while he was in the water. Injured said that when he was in the water, he felt something hit him, but he did not know what it was.

After the collsion both vessels beached their boats on the Kentucky side of the river where they remained until my arrival. V2 Operator claims his navigation lights were on and a witness from the bank (Witness), claimed she saw Vessel 2's lights on as well. I performed HGN on both operators and observed nystagmus in V1 Operator's eyes. I instructed Officer 2 to perform field sobriety on him while I documented and investigated the boat accident. After the standardized seated field sobriety tests, Officer 2 placed V1 Operator under arrest for BUI. V2 Injured, who was the juvenile that was ejected, had about a 6 inch cut on his back. The next day, the father of V2 Injured, V2 Passenger 8 said he felt pain in his neck as well. There was significant damage to Vessel 2 on the rear starboard side. Damage to Vessel 1 includes long scratches along the port side of the boat and a broken prop. During the investigation, I asked V2 Operator to turn on his Navigation Lights, to see if they were working. His 360 degree white lights worked along with his green starboard light. His red port light did not come on. The light that would have been visible to Vessel 1, would have been the white 360 degree light.

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Ohio River
PETERSBURG                    