Sheriff’s deputy is facing a charge of reckless operation of a vessel after 2 were injured in a boat accident in Lake Cayuga in New York

 

(Photo: OVID FIRE DEPARTMENT)

Broome deputy charged in boating accident

Kelsey O'Connor

 July 29, 2015

 

Following a boating accident on Cayuga Lake that sent two to the hospital, the operator, a Broome County sheriff’s deputy, is facing a charge of reckless operation of a vessel.

The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office announced the completion of its investigation Tuesday.

On the night of July 10, Dan Balmer, 45, of Johnson City, was heading south in a 19-foot Larson boat on Cayuga Lake, near Sheldrake Point, when he failed to see a lighted navigation marker and collided with it, the sheriff’s office reported.

Balmer and his passenger, Marguerite A. Malone, 35, of Johnson City, sustained non-life threatening injuries and were transported by South Seneca Ambulance to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.

The boat was damaged extensively in the crash, the sheriff’s office said.
“There was no evidence from our deputies at the scene that alcohol was involved in the accident,” Seneca County Undersheriff Gary Sullivan said Wednesday. “Mr. Balmer just told us he did not see this object in the water and collided with it.”

Accidents like this are not uncommon on the lake, he said, and the sheriff’s office typically handles those investigations. Boaters sometimes inadvertently crash into objects on the water, such as docks, buoys or other boats, he said.

Balmer was charged with reckless operation of a vessel, a navigation law misdemeanor. He was ordered to appear Aug. 25 in the Ovid Town Court.

He has been a Broome County road patrol deputy since 2000 and previously served with Endicott police, according to Broome County Sheriff David Harder.

Balmer resumed his patrol duties on Saturday, and it is the sheriff’s office policy not to take any action regarding employment status for an infraction such as reckless operation of a vessel, Harder said Wednesday.

“It’s no different than getting a speeding ticket,” Harder said. “He’s taking care of the matter, he told me he was issued a summons, and he will inform me of the outcome.”

Seneca County Sheriff’s deputies were assisted at the scene of the boating accident by the New York State Police, Interlaken and Ovid fire departments, and South Seneca Ambulance.

Staff writer Anthony Borrelli contributed to this report.