Monday, May 25, 2015

WIFE KILLED, HUSBAND INJURED IN LAKE JAMES BOATING ACCIDENT IN MORGANTON, N.C. THE OPERATOR OF THE PONTOON BOAT WAS CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOR RECKLESS AND NEGLIGENT OPERATION OF A MOTOR BOAT






MAY 25, 2015

MORGANTON, N.C. (AP) 

A woman died Sunday afternoon after the pontoon boat in which she was riding ran into a dock.

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Officer Clint Bell said the accident involved two married couples who were on a pontoon boat across from East Shores on Lake James in Burke County around 1 p.m. He said the four people had left a cabin on East Shores on the boat when the operator of the boat became distracted for a short time.

When the operator looked up, he saw that the boat was about to hit a dock, Bell said. The front of the boat hit the dock at about 10 miles per hour and a husband and wife from Charlotte were thrown forward and sustained head injuries.

The husband was airlifted to the Morganton campus of Carolinas HealthCare Blue Ridge and his wife was transported by ambulance. Sherry Renegar, 64, was pronounced dead at the Morganton hospital, according to WSOC-TV. Her cause of death has not been determined.

John Renegar, 67, was flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, Bell said.
The operator of the boat, Kenneth Allan Rademacher, 69, of Charlotte, was charged with misdemeanor reckless and negligent operation of a motor boat, Bell said.

“It was just an unfortunate accident,” Bell said.