Charges are pending against the operator of a boat who police say drove away after crashing into another boat on Leesville Lake last weekend, leaving two women injured.
Two power boats were headed toward the Smith Mountain Dam on Leesville Lake at 6 p.m. Saturday when the lead boat, a 2005 Chaparral deck boat, slowed down, said Sgt. Chris Thomas, of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
As the lead boat came to a stop, Thomas said the boat that followed it did not, hitting the victim’s boat in the stern and then launching over the top of it.
There were five people in the victim’s boat. One woman in the passenger’s seat was struck in the head in the impact. She was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital where she was treated and released. The boat’s driver suffered cuts to her head from the boat’s shattered windshield but did not require treatment. The remaining three passengers were not hurt.
Three people were in the suspect’s boat and one was thrown overboard in the crash. Thomas said the suspect picked up the passenger who was thrown and then sped away.
“The victim’s boat suffered extensive damage,” Thomas said.
The operator tried to drive the boat five miles back to her dock, but the engine died, Thomas said. They got a pontoon boat to tow them, but quickly realized the boat was taking on water.
“The boat actually sunk,” Thomas said. “Our department on Sunday used lift bags and were able to get the boat out and on a trailer.”
Thomas said conservation police officers found the suspect’s boat the following day at a house in Pittsylvania County, and have questioned its owner. Charges will be filed in the crash later this week, he said. Authorities are not releasing the parties’ names at this time, he said.
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