Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
FORT WAYNE - An Illinois man is in good condition in a Fort Wayne hospital after being struck in the head by a personal watercraft on Sunday. Three people were arrested after the accident on Tippecanoe Lake.
According to a press release from the Department of Natural Resources, a personal watercraft operated by Anthony F. Boerema, 19, of Oakland, Ill., was following a 20-foot boat operated by Thomas Carr, 47, of Chicago Ridge, Ill., when the accident occurred shortly before 5 p.m.
Carr was stopping in front of Boerema, who apparently was unable to stop. The personal watercraft went onto the stern of the boat before going airborne and striking Carr in the head, then continuing over the boat.
Two passengers in Carr's boat were not injured.
The accident occurred near the boat ramp by Tippy Dance Hall and police reported finding beer bottles in the boat, as well as a cooler containing beer on the dock next to the boat.
A Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department deputy at the scene noticed Boerema had bloodshot eyes and that he and the passengers in the boat had the odor of alcohol on their breath. Portable breath tests showed Boerema had a blood-alcohol content of .10 percent. Jillian Lindquist and Kelly Carr, both 18 and of Chicago Ridge, tested .07 percent and .08 percent, respectively.
Boerema was charged with boating while intoxicated, illegal possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor and public intoxication. Kelly Carr and Lindquist were each charged with illegal possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor.
An alcohol test also was performed on Thomas Carr, but the results of that test were not available.
Carr was initially taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw, and was later transferred to Lutheran Hospital. A CAT scan showed that Carr suffered bleeding in the brain, police said.
