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Glendale,AZ
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1990 Carrera 23.5 Classic
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Posted: Sep. 06 2006,10:58 am |
Post # 2 |
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Eight injured in early Monday boat accident
WINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN— Eight people escaped serious injury early Monday when a speedboat catapulted over a pontoon boat in Winfield Township’s Indian Lake.
A Fisher pontoon boat was anchored about 300 feet offshore on the lake’s west side at 12:21 a.m. when a 17-foot Four Winns speedboat operated by Christopher Williams, 31, of Howard City raced out of a channel toward it.
Michele Rodammer, 40, of Howard City was one of five people aboard the pontoon admiring the midnight sky and enjoying the last vestiges of summer. She said they switched on the pontoon boat’s marker lights when they saw the speedboat but it kept heading straight for them.
“I saw it come out of a channel just flying and yelled ‘No, no, no’ and that’s the last I remember,†Rodammer said. “I must have gone into shock.â€
According to the Montcalm County Sheriff’s Office in Stanton, the speedboat struck the pontoon head-on and catapulted completely over it, through the canopy. Williams told police he didn’t see the pontoon boat before the impact.
Pontoon boat passenger Marnitta Hockstra, 44, of Howard City said the speedboat’s hull struck her head and upper body. She feels blessed to be alive but has multiple bruises on her head, face and upper body along with several cracked ribs.
“You never know how loud a boat motor is until it goes over your head,†she said. “I thought the propeller was coming at me. It was like being on an airplane that’s going down. There’s nothing you can do.â€
Rodammer was treated at the Spectrum Health United Memorial Kelsey Campus in Lakeview on Monday for a concussion and minor facial scratches.
Todd Aleksynas, 30, and Bruce Vander Hulen, 42, both of Grand Rapids, were riding with Williams in the speedboat. David Perry, 55, Irving Miller, 47, and Grant Rodammer, 46, all of Howard City, were on the pontoon with Hockstra and Michele Rodammer. All but Michele Rodammer were treated at the scene by Montcalm County Emergency Services ambulance personnel.
“I can’t believe we’re still alive,†Hockstra said. “God must have a plan for us.â€
Hockstra and Michele Rodammer said the speedboat was traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck the pontoon boat. Montcalm County Sheriff’s Lt. Karl Kluwe said police and a local Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officer are unsure how fast the speedboat was traveling.
“That’s the part we are still investigating,†he said.
The DNR officer has specialized training in watercraft accident reconstruction and is continuing the investigation with the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Marine Patrol Deputy Mike Kotenko said the state does not have a law regulating when boats must slow down at night and he isn’t aware of a similar ordinance governing Indian Lake.
“A lot of lakes have a local ordinance for high speed boating,†Kotenko said.
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