A boater has been charged after an out-of-control boat crashed into a police boat in Lake Winnipesaukee in July, New Hampshire State Police said Monday.
Two civilians and two New Hampshire State Police Marine Patrol officers were taken to the hospital after the July 20 incident, which happened near Round Island in Gilford.
The operator of the runaway boat, 50-year-old Craig Devlin of Colebrook, New Hampshire, was arrested and charged with careless and negligent operation of a boat and conduct after an accident.
New Hampshire State Police said that shortly before 10:30 p.m. that night, they received a 911 call reporting that someone was in the water on Lake Winnipesaukee, yelling for help while a boat was circling in the area.
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Two state police Marine Patrol officers who were on patrol responded and found two people in the water, state police said. The officers were able to rescue them. getting them onto the patrol boat. They were transferred to a Gilford Fire Department boat and taken by ambulance to Concord Hospital in Laconia.
The Marine Patrol officers then had to track down the unmanned boat, which was still running and wandering erratically. The officers tried to stop the boat by throwing a line into the water in its path to catch the propeller, but were unsuccessful. On their second attempt, the out-of-control boat made a sudden turn toward the Marine Patrol boat, crashing into it and causing it to capsize.
The two officers were thrown overboard and momentarily pinned under the boat, which was being dragged by the unmanned boat. They were ultimately able to escape and make it to the surface.
Some Good Samaritans rescued the Marine Patrol officers from the water. They then boarded the out-of-control boat, which was now slowed from dragging the second boat, and were able to stop it.
The two people involved in the original crash had non-life-threatening injuries. The two officers were evaluated at the hospital as a precaution but were not seriously injured.
