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.