Fatality on Lake Sinclair in Georgia on 7/1/06. Help needed HIT AND RUN

[Raceman]

Last night there was a moving accident on this lake that killed a father and sent his wife to the hospital. Their daughter was on the boat also, but the news report made no mention of any injury to her. This is the only moving fatality that I'm aware of ever on this lake except for 2 tubing accidents in the last 10 years, which of course were daylight.

Basically some dirtball in an unknown brand of boat, white on the hull, based on the transfer left on the boat he hit, ran into a pontoon boat broadside with the driver taking a direct hit and being dead at the scene. In the face of the catastrophic injuries, which I was told today, cut the pontoon half in two, the dirtball ran, and hasn't been caught yet. There were additional deputies from surrounding counties on the lake all day looking for the boat, but so far, no sign of it. A witness said that the boat was either a bassboat or a low slung ski boat.

What irks the hell outta me is the fact that the people here who promote these SUPER ANNOYING bass tournaments constantly, put one on a holiday weekend with a weigh in after dark. Of course at this point we don't know if it was a fisherman in the tournament, or some drunk out in a boat late at night, but I do know that I've had enough of the late night hotrodders around here now and from now on it's going to provoke a call to the DNR when they haul ass around here at night, and 9 times out of 10 it's fishermen.

I sincerly hope they catch the worthless coward that killed this man, destroyed this family, and didn't stop to help, but rather left em in the water in the middle of the night and took off.:mad: :mad: :mad:

[Shanna]

THATS TERRIBLE!!! what goes around comes around and he will get his what a piece of $hit to leave them there. Norris please keep us posted on any updates or information that we can do to help!!! thoughts and prayers to the family hope the Mom pulls through

[Fish]

Hard to believe someone would leave the scene knowing he/she might be the only one who can be the difference between life and death. Raceman, normally I would not suggest this but the more boards this goes on the better. I am sure there was damage to the white boat as well and maybe someone in some shop somewhere will see a boat that raises some flags. The more people that know about it the better chance someone will provide that clue the police need.

I will keep the family in my thoughts and prayers,

fish

[kimswang]

He will be caught!

[99fxst99]

Raceman, please keep us posted on any additional news, also if there is a fund set up for the family. A terrible tragedy. We all hope for the best.

[INXS]

Sorry to hear of the loss and suffering. Not wanting to bring up lawyers and lawsuits but in this case if it was a fisherman in the bass tournament there should be hell to pay. Everone knows that those guys would be racing to the after dark weight in! Oh, lets not foreget that someone in goverment must have gave this afterdark tournament the go ahead. I just hope the tournament folks kept all the boaters info so the cops can track down the bum.

[beer30]

Very sorry to hear about this terrible situation:( . Always sends chills down my spine, thinking that somebody can be so cold to do something like that and not stop and help!:eek: God bless the family in their time of grief. Chuck and Tracy

[Raceman]

Bttt +

[INXS]

I see people riding like nuts all the time. Like my local cops use to tell me and my biker friends "If you want to jump on you big bikes do it out in the country where it's safer". Sort of like "There's a time and a place to have fun but use your brain first". It's terrible to hear of people gettting hurt and killed and it's these types of things that make the marine police and local goverments impose spped limits on lakes, or at least add to the "Not On My Lake" anti-boater bit!

[Ron V]

Sorry to hear it, that's horrible. But don't rule out the possibility that the guy may come forward. It's probably as scary for the guy who hit them as it was for the family.

I have very little use for the bass tournament mentality either. And the problem is there will always be a strong bias in their favor, there is a lot of media attention, it is seen as a sport full of good ole boys. They are not seen as hot rodders, they are seen as sportsmen, and God forbid anything bad be said about any "sport" in this country. But we don't know for sure it was a fisherman either.

Whether the boat was glass or aluminum, if it cut a pontoon boat in half then it is pretty well totaled and might turn up in an obvious way somewhere. Unless it is a big offshore rig or something. His wife/girlfriend will probably turn him in after their next fight. She'll see it in the paper and blow the whistle on the wrecked boat in the garage. If you ask me, it's a pretty incredible feat that he was able to pull away. We've had a few of these late night coke snorter torpedo collisions on the Fox Chain and the boats are always out of commision on impact. The really bad ones around here always seem to happen just like you described. Late at night, one boat cuts another one in half. You can't be too careful at night.

[riebie]

What a tragedy!!! It's hard to imagine the kind of "person" that would leave after causing so much harm. Will continue praying for the family. Norris, please keep us posted and let us know what we can do to help.

[INXS]

a few years ago? some rich guy in a big, about 40', boat cut a smaller fishing boat in half killing one person. The case was on the local news, seems the owner said he didn't see it the small boat. The two surviors said they didn't see anyone driving, auto-ploit? Anyway the last I heard was it was a hung jury and I think a local paper asked why the prosecutor never placed the jury in the boat too see the drivers view. Seems the paper took them, or they went by request of the surving victums, on the same type off boat and they then said there was no way that the accident should have happened. Oh, yea, I think fishing boat wasn't moving?

[Tom Foley]

This is ridiculous and obviously tragic beyond description. I just cannot believe the lack of any common sense at all that is displayed constantly on the water by a percentage of our boating world . I feel terrible for the family

[mercpower]

This is a horrible tragedy and I feel for all parties involved, but to immediately start pointing fingers at the "SUPER ANNOYING" bass tournaments is a little premature., I think we should affirm that it WAS a bass boat and not another type of boat. Am I sticking up for the bass tournaments, yes. I do agree that IF a tournament was held on the weekend of the 4th that was probably a bad choice, and some tournament fisherman are not the most courteous, but the same can be said of every other type of boater. There is always a small percentage of every group that is irresponsible. ALL boaters should stick together, divisions will only hurt all of us in the end. Thanks

[Raceman]

..........but to immediately start pointing fingers at the "SUPER ANNOYING" bass tournaments is a little premature.,

Maybe you missed this sentence in my post:

"Of course at this point we don't know if it was a fisherman in the tournament, or some drunk out in a boat late at night, but I do know that I've had enough of the late night hotrodders around here now and from now on it's going to provoke a call to the DNR when they haul ass around here at night, and 9 times out of 10 it's fishermen."

Frankly I'd be annoyed by the poor judgement of doing a NIGHT fishing tournament on a holiday weekend if there had been no accident, and would have probably been mouthy around the lake here that we were lucky that nobody got hurt, because the fact is, the guys in the bassboats do run around here WAY TOO FAST when it's pitch black. Promoters and fishermen who do a late night weigh in, which ENCOURAGES flyin' back to the registration sight at the last minute IN THE DARK are just asking for accidents. Again, it's a seperate issue and may very well be unrelated to this accident, but at the very least it put additional traffic on the lake in an extremely high traffic area (called the junction, where two rivers merge with 2 other tributaries basically creating a 4 way intersection, the tournament headquarters being less than half a mile off to one side) on a holiday weekend.

[barr151]

first off i feel for the family and i hope they have a good support structure to help them through this tragic incident.

raceman, is this the lake you live on? if so you may want to check with your neighbors to see if any of them may have been filming the lake that day. i know its a long shot and the cops should be pursuing these types of leads but some people will not take it upon themselves to check. you never know some one may have captured this idiot on camera. keep us up to date on the progress of the mother. hopefully they will find the piece of crap who did this. its bad enough to hit someone, but to leave them stranded and not have enough balls to stop and help they should receive some ventilation in their skull...........................

[mercpower]

Raceman, your are right I DO AGREE that a weigh in after dark or even approaching dark is irresponsible on anyone's part, and your right is does encourage that last minute, wide open run after dark. I am not familiar with tournaments that would encourage that type of behavior but I know they are out there. And acts like that do put a black eye on the face of boating and tournaments especially. And once again I have to totally disagree with a tournament on any holiday weekend. All in all, a horrible tragedy and those responsible should be brought to justice.

[Raceman]

It IS the lake I live on, but I'm about 10 miles from the site of the accident, so I don't know anybody who lives around there. Also, the accident was at 10:45 PM, so I doubt there was any filming going on.

I've heard a rumor that the wife's injuries were minor except for the emotional impact and the daughter may have been wet but uninjured.

I don't have any reason to point fingers at anybody fishing in the tournament, but if I was investigating I'd get a copy of the registration list and have a look at every boat on it, even if it meant traveling. The problem is, it's the only list of people with boats on the lake that night, so I'd have to look and interview that whole bunch and see if anybody saw anything. I also wish they'd put a deputy on every public boat ramp within minutes of the accident. There are only about 8 or 9 and chances are good that if it was a non-resident there'd have been a boat pulled out at one of em, or either an empty overnight trailer if the damaged boat was hidden somewhere.

Maybe somebody will start a reward pool in the next several days if the boat doesn't turn up otherwise.

Typical law enforcement quote aired on all TV and in the newspaper: "Until we locate the boat it's impossible to determine if alcohol was involved". I'm stumped to figure how they'll make such a determination days after the fact. Either way, there's a BIG felony charge waiting now because of the leaving the scene after a fatality.

[Fish]

Raceman, not trying to be devils advocate since this is inexcusable in so many ways, but does anyone know if the toon had lights on when it was running? Again, I am with Bar151 when it comes to ventilating a scumbag who leaves people he/she injured to die, just wondering about whether he could have seen the pontoon before the crash?

As for the alcohol question, I am with you. Not sure how they are going to prove any level or impairment unless someone comes forward that can attest to the sobriety of the driver at the time of the accident or an establishment served him to intoxication just before the accident and you can get a receipt. If there are any waterside places on your lake that serves drinks, you might check with them to see if they recall a white boat leaving about that time.

[SERIOUS]

Sad Did They Catch The Hump? Bet It Was Outlander!:( ILLEGAL NOT SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE NOT OBEYING OUR LAWS NOT PAYING TAXES HOPE I'M WRONG AND HOPE THEY CATCH HIM:( :confused:

[The Big Al]

Raceman, I understand your anger.
But you are to smart a person to assume it was a fisherman.
Now, I am a bassboater!!
I myself find most tournament fisherman to be a total rude anal jackass!
(I do fish small club type tournament from time to time)
HAd them setting down on top of me, waking up the water, like they own the lake. The same people who complain about pleasure boaters have no respect for their fellow fisherman.
I even had some guy's cut me off, on a bank, told me they were sorry they were fishing a tournament!! Need less to say, they bank had nothing to fish after I got threw washing the hell out of it with a 4 ft wake!!!

But back to point at hand, I think you will find the boat to be a alcoholic involved vessille, maybe a bassboat or something else.
Also you may find out the phontoon had no light's.
I also find it hard for a bassboat to cut a Phontoon in HALF! Maybe a 20ft plus inboard.


Al

[barr151]

raceman, i apologize, i did not mean that someone was filming at that time of night. what i meant was if they could find someone that was filming throughout the day and captured different boats on the water. that along with a list from the tournament should help produce leads and possibilities.

[The Big Al]

If they start to collect a fund for the familly involved please post.
You know we would help.

Al

[Ted Stryker]

I'm an avid lifelong Fisherman myself, although I don't admit to this as often as I used to because of the turn that Bassfishing has taking in the 10 years or so... I've gotten to where I can't hardly be around a lot of these people, and their so-called self importance and imagined "rights" while on the water... I'm with Al, and while anything is possible I'd be looking for larger pleasure craft as a culprit... I know nearly no details , but it would take one helluva Bass boat to cut a pontooner in 1/2 and keep going to the bank and get on the trailer without a semi-problematic ordeal.. I'm wondering, depending on the 2 boats as whether a pontoon sits too high in comparison to a Basser, and the Bass driver would have most likely went through the pontoon than over it.. If the Basser obviously didn't see the pontoon, He wouldn't have known to lower Himself in defense and would have certainly been seriously injured... I've seen and heard of some strange things, and very little surprises Me anymore but My $ is on a larger pleasure type hull that has the stature and structure to do such damage and be able to leave the seen with hull and driver intact... This is a very bad situation, and I hope the Person is found to answer for the events that took place...

[Raceman]

I haven't been able to see the pontoon, and the pictures so far have been very abreviated, mostly showing the driver's seat knocked out of it's location without full front or side shots, but I'm beginning to question the "cut in half" description. "Witnesses" (unclear who they are) have been quoted as saying it was either a bassboat or a "low slung" ski boat. Another second hand report yesterday said that the wife and daugher (daughter an adult also) did not sustain serious injuries.

[Ted Stryker]

Yeah, without some specific's answered were all just specualting wildly.. It's hard to imagine that a driver of a reported "low slung" watercraft would have been able to leave the seen Himself... Just watch the daily New's and Broadcasting and it's easy to see how very unreliable Eyewitnesses can be...

[catfish123]

This was just a horrible accident that never should have happened. My sympathy to the family involved. May God help you through this. The lake I boat in in Pa. often gets very crowded and many people stay out after dark. I have always been afraid to because many times fog sets in and it is virtually impossible to see. This does not seem to slow many of them down. Just last year, shortly after I got off the lake, a family of 3 were all killed when there boat ran into a rock cliff directly across from the boat ramp I use. What a tragedy. Please, for any of you who do boat after dark, be extremely careful so that these types of events can be eliminated.

[SERIOUS]

They will catch who ever it was boat has to have damage unless they were out of state??

[Jay Smith]

Yep I'm hearing about from customers drunks , rude jerks , druggies and ego idiots ruineing what used to be a Sunday family affair of fishing, tubing , skiing and boat riding on alot of lakes, bays, and rivers all around the country. There are some that feel like they can't get behind the wheel of a boat without a buzz on from what ever chemical they choose to injest. And it makes it even worse when its behind the wheel of something thier ego has told them is the "baddest" thing on the waterways ! And to meet one of these irresponsible idiots approaching at night at a high rate of speed is down right scary !!And its a shame that maybe less than 1% of the problem boaters are giving the other 99% of responsible law abiding folks a bad name and the "willies" to put thier family at risk on Sunday afternoon..

My sympathy goes out to the family involved and I hope they find the perp and prosicute them to the fullest extent of the law...

[SERIOUS]

Yep I'm hearing about from customers drunks , rude jerks , druggies and ego idiots ruineing what used to be a Sunday family affair of fishing, tubing , skiing and boat riding on alot of lakes, bays, and rivers all around the country. There are some that feel like they can't get behind the wheel of a boat without a buzz on from what ever chemical they choose to injest. And it makes it even worse when its behind the wheel of something thier ego has told them is the "baddest" thing on the waterways ! And to meet one of these irresponsible idiots approaching at night at a high rate of speed is down right scary !!And its a shame that maybe less than 1% of the boaters are giving the other 99% of responsible law abiding folks a bad name and the "willies" to put thier family at risk on Sunday afternoon..

My sympathy goes out to the family involved and I hope they find the perp and prosicute them to the fullest extent of the law...1%LAW ABIDING 99%EGO IDIOTS:confused:

[X-Rated30]

Sorry, but I am going to have to join in on the Basser-Bashing. I see the tournament fishermen on my river being both dumb and rude. Trying to get to their sweet spot or to weigh in in a hurry, they run WFO through areas with too many pleasure boaters. They fail to abide by navigation rules or even common sense when they run right down the middle of the river and refuse to yeild the right of way, because they feel they have some air of authority somehow conveyed to them by virtue of having entered a fishing tournament. :mad:

I have a fast boat and I run it 90+ on the river. The difference is I pull back on the throttles if i see an area of congestion ahead rather than trying to squeze through. These guys don't realize that their fishing is no more important than someone's party barge cruise.

As far as going fast at night, anyone that goes faster than the distance it takes to stop if there is an object in the way has only a short wait before they prove Charles Darwin right. The only exception to this might be in the open ocean where other boats are few and far between. A tournament weigh in after dark? I am a lawyer and I would take that case.:rolleyes:

[captain corona]

Raceman, have you heard if they have found the person/people that were responsible for this terrible accident yet? Holliday weekends have gotten to be the worst time of the year to try and boat down here. It's no wonder the water cops turn to a$$ holes on those weekends. Things like this tend to prove my favorite saying--They will sell a boat to anyone with a wallet full of cash..Brains on the otherhand are a option! Good luck to the rest of the family and please keep us posted. Mike T.

[Raceman]

'I knew he was dead'

Widow recalls wreck as authorities search for driver of hit-and-run boat

LAKE SINCLAIR - All Sandra Baxter remembers of the accident that killed her husband Saturday night is the scream of her daughter, the sound of grinding metal, the shock of hitting the water and the struggle to fight her way to the surface.
"The boat that hit us went right over the top of our pontoon boat," Baxter said. "It stopped and (my daughter) screamed, 'I can't find my parents! Please help me!' And they took off. I can't believe they not only killed my husband, they left my daughter screaming for help."
Sandra and Mark Baxter, of Lake Sinclair, and their 25-year-old daughter Laura Johnson, of Atlanta, were coasting their way back to Sandra's parents' house when a boat collided with their pontoon. Mark Baxter, 48, was killed instantly, authorities said.
The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, the state Department of Natural Resources, the GBI, FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are all working to track down the driver of the boat responsible for the accident, said detective Bobby Langford, lead investigator for the sheriff's office.
Some people have called in tips, so there may have been witnesses that weren't located immediately after the accident, Langford said. The collision took place about 10:30 p.m., but within sight of Little River Park and its marina, the Ga. 441 bridge and many houses on the Putnam and Hancock counties sides of the lake, he said.
Deputies are going door to door seeking witnesses, and DNR officials have extra patrols on the lake checking for damaged boats. Langford said investigators are looking for a fiberglass boat with a V-shaped hull.
Six or seven boats were near enough for their occupants to hear the crash, said Cpl. Doug Bridges, who is leading the DNR portion of the investigation.
But many boaters were more focused on responding to the cries for help than on the perpetrator fleeing the scene, Bridges said.
Sandra Baxter said she does not know the names of the people who pulled her from the water. But she became tearful as she emphasized that while the perpetrators were so thoughtless, others were so caring.
"They were heroes," she said. "Somebody jumped in and found me immediately."
Baxter said the man who found her husband tried to administer CPR. "Mark was bleeding profusely," she said. "I was holding my husband and he was dead. I knew he was dead."
Although Baxter is a good swimmer, she said she probably would have drowned if her daughter had not tossed her a life jacket. Baxter's legs were badly bruised and she refused to leave the water until her husband was located.
The key factors in the case against the boat's operator will be the abandonment of victims in the water and the possible use of alcohol, Bridges said.
The items found floating in the water around the crash site, and believed to have flown out of the boat that struck the pontoon, included beer cans, Langford said. Once the cans and other objects have dried out, they can be fingerprinted.
In addition, some paint flecks were found. Some were yellow and might have come off the boat or items in the boat, Langford said. Many boats have yellow stripes or lettering despite a different overall color scheme, so investigators are not assuming the boat was yellow, he said.
The DNR is consulting with boating manufacturers to try to match the paint to the model and brand of boat.
"I think we have enough evidence that we're going to catch him," Bridges said.
"Everyone's concerned about it," said David Johnston, manager of Little River Park and its marina, where ambulances met the victims of the accident on Saturday night. "Everyone wants to know if they caught the guy. Everybody's got a vendetta against him."
The park hosted a bass fishing tournament, which started at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, shortly after the accident, and Johnston said DNR officials inspected all the boats as they checked in.
The Baxters have owned property on Lake Sinclair since 1975, at first camping out with their four children, Sandra Baxter said. Mark Baxter built a canoe with his two sons, and when the family bought a jet ski, he required the children to take a DNR boating safety class.
"Boating safety was so important to him," Baxter said. "It's so wrong that he should die this way."
But Mark Baxter loved to be on the water. He served in the Navy when he was young, then owned a family barber shop in Stockbridge. When he built the house on the lake - doing all the carpentry himself, with the help of his brother - he split his weeks between the two locations, Sandra recalled. The Baxters moved full time to Lake Sinclair three years ago, and Mark worked as a hairdresser at Stage 1 in Milledgeville, she said.
Sandra Baxter is manager of Oconee Valley Red Cross, and her husband often volunteered for the organization.
Baxter said she is comforted by the fact that her husband died after a wonderful day on the water. The family was talking and laughing together after an evening watching fireworks with friends.
"He died doing what he loved best," she said. "He loved being on the lake."
A memorial service for Mark Baxter will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Williams Funeral Home Chapel in Milledgeville.

IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION
Anyone who has more information about the accident or who has seen a boat with front-end damage is asked to call the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office at (478) 445-4891.

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1>_krdDartInc++;document.write('<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1" SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/macon.homepage/homepage;template=article;!category=homepage;pos=center6;group=rectangle;sz=300x250;tile='+_krdDartI nc+';ord='+_krdDartOrd+'?"><\/SCRIPT>');</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/macon.homepage/homepage;template=article;!category=homepage;pos=center6;group=rectangle;sz=300x250;tile=4;ord=11520 97060000?"></SCRIPT>http://m1.2mdn.net/835417/spacer.gif (http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v6|3419|3|0|%2a|r%3B29564138%3B0-0%3B1%3B7939276%3B4307-300|250%3B15523846|15541742|1%3B%3B%7Eaopt%3D2|1|ff%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://www.realcities.com)
<NOSCRIPT>http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/macon.homepage/homepage;template=article;!category=homepage;pos=center6;group=rectangle;sz=300x250;ord=115209705773 2? (http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/)</NOSCRIPT>

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript>if (typeof(krd_topix_property) != 'undefined') {document.write('<script language="JavaScript">var topixcats = new Array();<\/script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ctx.topix.net/ctx/program.js?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.realcities.com%2Fmld%2Frealcities%2F14966760.htm"><\/script><script language="JavaScript" src="/js/kr_topix_links.js"><\/script>');}</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript>var topixcats = new Array();</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="http://ctx.topix.net/ctx/program.js?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.realcities.com%2Fmld%2Frealcities%2F14966760.htm"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="/js/kr_topix_links.js"></SCRIPT>

[Superdave]

Gee, it appears it MAY have NOT been a bassboater....imagine that...
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=81541
:rolleyes:

[Raceman]

Gee, it appears it MAY have NOT been a bassboater....imagine that...


I don't think anybody in this thread has said it was a bassboat. There was a bass tournament. The poor judgement of having a night tournament on a holiday weekend when there would no doubt be drunks out on the lake anyway is unexplainable. I think law enforcement should have a look at the list and visit every boat, simply because there is NO OTHER list to look at. If there was also a list of people who put in at any boat ramp for instance, they should look at it also, but no such list exists.

V bottom is a generic term. I don't think the description V bottom makes the possibility of a bassboat any more or less logical. Personally I don't care if it was a BB, an offshore boat, a ski boat or another deckboat of some type. The fact is, at this point we don't know for sure if the pontoon boat had lights, or if the driver of it somehow contributed to the accident, but the bottom line is, the worthless piece of crap in the other boat drove off and left a man dead or dying in the water, his wife screaming and in the water also, and one of the women saying she would have drowned herself had she not been thrown a lifejacket. I hope the guy is found and rots in jail.

[riebie]

The description of this tragedy just rips my heart. I pray they catch this piece of crap soon. Norris, please let us know what we can do to help.

[Raceman]

There's a rumor from what I consider a credible source that they've got him. Supposedly a girlfriend went to emergency room banged up, and investigators decided to look at hospital records and didn't buy the excuse for the injuries. That contact led to a boat with damage consistent with accident details.

All I can say at this point is, if it's true it made my day. I'll post more details the MINUTE I hear anything else.

[yellowallison]

SAD DEAL! but least maybe GOOD NEWS!!

what a POC of a person to leave a FAMILY DYING in a lake at NIGHT !! :mad: :mad:

I think we all agee what they otta do with somone like that! :mad: :mad:

[Fish]

There's a rumor from what I consider a credible source that they've got him. Supposedly a girlfriend went to emergency room banged up, and investigators decided to look at hospital records and didn't buy the excuse for the injuries. That contact led to a boat with damage consistent with accident details.

All I can say at this point is, if it's true it made my day. I'll post more details the MINUTE I hear anything else.

Thanks for the update raceman, I hope it pans out. Can't bring that poor guy he killed back, but at least the a-hole will have to be accountable for what he did. Hats off to the police for good work too.

[tunnelmike]

Running over someone is bad in itself..........leaving people dying in the water at night with you being the only help is beyond excusable !! I hope they got their man and she gets pulled in as an accomplice. Mike

[Raceman]

Local CBS affiliate just ran a cut in on it (details at 11). They said the boat driver was 48 year old Mark (couldn't understand the last name). Ironically he was the same age with the same first name as the victim (if the reporter didn't screw it up).

He's charged with homicide with a vessel, failure to render aid, reckless operation, and another charge or 2. He has also admitted to drinking during the day, but the report said it's unclear whether he was drunk at the time of the accident.

[99fxst99]

Raceman, please keep the information coming until this is wrapped up. As shown by the hits and responses on this thread there are a lot of us "go-fast" boaters who are horrified by irresponsibility such as this and feel deeply for the persons involved. I think we all hope the man and woman involved are prosecuted ti the fullest extent possible, and that the survivors are able to put their lives back together. Maybe sometime they can see this thread and draw a little strength from its support.

[Raceman]

The station just ran a follow up at 11, but they screwed up and showed the pontoon boat the victim was on as the one that hit him, so we still don't know what the other boat was.

The guy had 3 other people in the boat with him, and apparently they're all arrested. The news said other charges pending according to Sheriff. They also interviewed the victim's wife and daughter, who gave a horrifying account of hysterically begging the people who hit them to dial 911, at which time they backed up and drove off. The list of charges against the driver is long, and the news said he'd had at least 3 DUI's in the past and has admitted to drinking the day of the accident, but the Sheriff said it would be difficult to prove he was impared at the time of the accident. In any case, he's charged with homicide with a vehicle, so we can only hope they can make it stick. The Sheriff said that the driver had other issues in his past that caused him to be scared and not stay to help, but didn't define them.

I have heard NO MENTION of the fishing tournament in news accounts, and there seems to be nothing to suggest that anybody connected with it was connected with the accident. It would seem obvious that since the boat that caused the wreck had the girlfriend of the driver as well as two other people on board that they weren't likely in a fishing tournament.

[Maureen M]

4 people in the boat?
That disgusts me even more - not one of them had the decency/backbone to come forward? :mad:
I'm glad they were all arrested.

Thanks for keeping us updated.


Maureen

[Trikki1010]

Chalk up one for the good guys:cool:

Hope they hang 'em high for leaving the family in the water, that leaves a chilling portrayal of the scene:mad:

Keep us updated RM

[INXS]

there could have been futher death as a result of them not helping and running away from the scene. They all should spend a long time in jail.

[Chummy]

Prayers go out to the friends and family of the victims. :(

[Chad Phillips]

They got the guy finally from what i'm told

[Raceman]

They got the guy finally from what i'm told

Read my last post on page 3 of this thread.

[Capt.Doug Metko]

UPDATE: Man charged in fatal Lake Sinclair boating accident

By Tim Sturrock

TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

<!-- begin body-content -->The man suspected of fleeing the scene of a fatal boating accident on Lake Sinclair Saturday night has been charged, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office.
Mark Entrekin, 49, of Putnam County, is charged with homicide by vessel and failure to render aid in the accident that killed Mark Baxter of Eatonton, Baldwin County sheriff's officials said.
Entrekin was named by a witness who they interviewed today, said sheriff's Capt. Chris Spires. Georgia Wildlife Resources Division spokeswoman Helen Fosgate said today that the woman had been in the boat that caused the accident that killed Baxter, Fosgate said.
Baxter, 48, was killed at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when a runabout boat ran into his pontoon boat.
His wife, Sandra Baxter, was taken to Oconee Regional Hospital, where she was treated and released for severe bruising on her legs. His daughter, Laura Johnson, 25, had minor scratches, officials said.
The crash occurred at "the junction," where the Oconee River and the Little River meet east of U.S. 441

[Capt.Doug Metko]

Chuck Thompson Three charged in boating fatality Three people were charged Thursday in a Saturday night boating accident on Lake Sinclair that killed an Eatonton man, the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office said.Mark Baxter, 48, was killed when a runabout boat crashed into his pontoon boat, injuring his wife, Sandra Baxter, 50, and stepdaughter. Authorities said the boat then fled the scene.Mark Entrekin, 49, of Putnam County, the alleged driver of that boat, is charged with homicide by vessel, reckless operation, failure to render aid and failure to report an accident, said Cpl. Doug Bridges, a DNR investigator.
Two of the other three people in Entrekin's boat also are being charged, he said.
Entrekin's co-worker James David Burrell, 35, of Milledgeville, and his wife, Tracey Burrell, are charged with failure to render aid, he said.
Entrekin and James Burrell work together at a car dealership in Milledgeville, Bridges said.
A woman who assisted investigators Thursday is not being charged. Bridges would not identify the woman but said she did not know the three other people well, Bridges said

[Capt.Doug Metko]

Eatonton woman charged in deadly boating hit-and-run
<TABLE id=wnStoryBox style="DISPLAY: none" cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=180 align=left bgColor=#ffffff border=0 NAME="D20"><TBODY><TR><TD><!--AD 180x150 LOCAL--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle><IFRAME id=wnsz_20 style="VISIBILITY: hidden" border=1 name=wnsz_20 marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 frameBorder=0 width=180 scrolling=no height=150 allowTransparency><SCRIPT LANGUAGE='JavaScript1.1'>if (document.layers) {document.write('<SCR' + 'IPT language=JavaScript1.1 SRC=""/Global/ad.asp?type=single&cls1=News&src1=loc&spct1=100&sz1=wnsz_20&callType=script />'); document.close();}</SCRIPT></IFRAME><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1>coreAdsCreate('wnsz_20', 'loc', '100');</SCRIPT></TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>http://wtvm.images.worldnow.com/images/static/gfx/pxl_trans.gif
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- -->





MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. A second passenger on a boat involved in a hit-and-run accident on Lake Sinclair is accused of failing to help a 48-year-old father and husband who died in the incident over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Corporal Doug Bridges of the state Department of Natural Resources says Tracey Burrell of Milledgeville is charged with failure to render assistance in the death of Mark Baxter. Her husband, James D- Burrell, faces the same charge.
The couple were passengers on a boat belonging to Mark Howard Entrekin. The 49-year-old Eatonton man, who works with James Burrell, was arrested Thursday and charged with homicide by vessel, a felony. Entrekin also faces three misdemeanors: reckless operation, failure to render aid, and failure to report an accident.
Bridges says Entrekin was the operator of the deck boat that hit Baxter and his family about 10:30 p-m on July First as they returned to shore after watching fireworks from their pontoon boat. Baxter and his wife were thrown into the water. The deck boat kept going.
Baxter's wife and her 25-year-old daughter sustained only minor injuries. Bridges says Baxter likely was killed by blunt force trauma in the impact with the boat.
Bridges says a tip from the public led to Entrekin's arrest. Entrekin said he fled the scene of the collision because he was on probation.
Entrekin's boat has been impounded.

[Capt.Doug Metko]

Man accused in boating fatality has history of DUIs

By Liz Fabian

TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

<!-- begin body-content -->MILLEDGEVILLE - The Eatonton man accused in a fatal hit-and-run boating accident on Lake Sinclair has been arrested at least four times for driving under the influence.
At the time of the accident that killed 48-year-old Mark Baxter a week ago, Mark Entrekin, 49, was on probation following a DUI arrest July 24 in Baldwin County, said Angela Peterson, Entrekin's probation officer.
"He was in compliance with the condition of his probation at that time," said Robinson, who works for Judicial Alternatives of Georgia, a private probation company that handles misdemeanor cases.
Entrekin is being held in the Baldwin County Jail on charges of homicide by vessel, reckless operation, failure to render aid and failure to report an accident.
He was placed on probation Nov. 7 through the State Court of Baldwin County with Judicial Alternatives, Robinson said.
Entrekin has three other prior DUI arrests in Bibb and Monroe counties, authorities said.
On Nov. 25, 1993, Macon police arrested Entrekin for driving under the influence, said Lt. George Meadows of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.
Bibb County deputies arrested him March 9, 1995, on the same charge, Meadows said.
A little more than nine months later, Entrekin bonded out of the Monroe County Jail on a DUI charge Dec. 16, 1995, said Allison Grant, spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
The resolution of those three cases could not be immediately determined Friday night.
After his arrest this week, Entrekin told investigators he had been drinking beer the day of the accident, Baldwin County sheriff's Capt. Chris Spires said.
Because Entrekin was arrested five days following the accident, investigators can't determine his blood alcohol level at the time of the crash, Spires said.
Entrekin is accused of crashing his runabout boat into Baxter's pontoon boat at about 10:30 p.m. July 1 at "the junction," where the Oconee River and the Little River meet east of U.S. 441.
Baxter died upon impact. His wife, Sandra Baxter, 50, and stepdaughter, Laura Johnson, 25, were hurt.
Two other people on board Entrekin's boat, his co-worker James David Burrell, 35, of Milledgeville, and his wife, Tracey Burrell, are charged with failure to render aid, said Cpl. Doug Bridges, an investigator for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
After investigators received a tip Tuesday that led them to Entrekin, they contacted a woman who helped them gather enough evidence to arrest him Thursday, Bridges said.
The woman, who is not being identified, is not being charged in the case, Bridges said.
Hundreds of Baxter's friends and family members gathered Friday afternoon for his funeral service at Williams Funeral Home in Milledgeville.

[hydroholic]

Glad they caught em and hope they put em away for a long time! They should have at least rendured assistance,no matter what the excuse for hitting them was,there is no excuse for hauling ass and leaving them to die.Hydro

[10.5' Tunnel]

Glad they caught him AND charged the other fools in the boat.

[sho305]

What an amazing story, I can't believe that guy took off! Man is he in a deep hole now. I never have gotten used to night boating. I have a spot light handy and I use that over trolling speed. Our little lake is private, but people often have no lights and then suddenly they light up when you come their way...often in row boats. But the lake is no-wake 7:30pm to 11am, and good thing it is. I would rather be on a larger lake where people use lights.

Runabout, still not saying what boat it is and one story said deckboat.

My best to the family, thats a tough one to swallow for sure.

[stokernick]

3 DUI's when will people ever learn not to drink and drive?

[Raceman]

3 DUI's when will people ever learn not to drink and drive?

He had 3 PREVIOUS DUI's to the one that put him on probation recently, bringing the total to 4 if the news rumors are right. With Georgia's toughness on DUI (supposedly the toughest in the nation) I don't understand why the guy isn't in jail. Third one is supposed to be a year behind bars with no probation. I guess you've got to kill somebody before the damn pardon and paroles board follows the law.

[props4u2]

The same thing happened here on the James River in Richmond 2 or 3 years ago, a customer of ours was fishing in a Jon boat, someone came up the river & ran right over him, witnesses said the boat slowed down then spead away. About a week later a father turned his 21 yr. old son in after he returned home from vacation, turns out the son had used his dads boat without permission, returned it to his dads garage & said nothing to anyone until his dad saw the scratchs on the boat, & yes he was DUI he had also been in trouble before, serving time now.


Lee

[The Big Al]

Published July 07, 2006 01:41 pm - By MONICA L. BURGE
Senior reporter
Two more people face charges after leaving the scene of the Saturday boating accident that left Baxter, 48, dead.
James Burrell and Tracy Kay Burell were arrest and charged with failure to render aid when the Gruman boat deck they were riding in collided with the pontoon boat where Baxter, his wife Sandra and their daughter were riding.

Two more charged in boating death



<!-- the next line starts looping through the grafs of the story -->By MONICA L. BURGE
Senior reporter
Two more people face charges after leaving the scene of the Saturday boating accident that left Baxter, 48, dead.
James Burrell and Tracy Kay Burell were arrest and charged with failure to render aid when the Gruman boat deck they were riding in collided with the pontoon boat where Baxter, his wife Sandra and their daughter were riding.
Mark Howard Entrekin, 49, of Steel Bridge Road in Eatonton was arrested Thursday in connection with a fatal boat accident.
“It’s been a very active investigation,” Sheriff Bill Massee said . “We started with no evidence and really worked it as a criminal case. It was good police work ... The straw that really stirred this drink was the public and the media coverage.”
Massee said a tip led investigators to Entrekin, who admitted being the driver of a Gruman deck boat that struck the pontoon boat Baxter, his wife, Sandra, and their daughter, Laura Hoeft, were riding in on the lake’s main channel, near the entrance to Reddy Creek. During an interview Entrekin expressed remorse for the accident.
“He is very sorry that this accident occurred and expressed sympathy not only to the family, but to everyone involved,” Massee said.
Entrekin’s boat, showing visible damage, was recovered from his Steele Bridge residence and will be analyzed by the Department of Natural Resources and possibly the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab, Massee said.
According to an incident report from the sheriff’s office, Hoeft told deputies she saw Entrekin’s deck boat “speeding” toward them and yelled for the boat to change course, but it struck her family’s boat head on. The report stated the driver stopped momentarily and then left the scene at “a high rate of speed” toward the Highway 441 bridge.

[The Big Al]

http://images.traderonline.com/img/6/dealer/754656/10255832_1.jpg

[The Big Al]

Now just as is was assumed a Bassboat, it now has been labeled a "Speed boat"
Looks bad all the way around.
Gruman has never made a Speed boat!!!!
So now us all performance boaters are put into the group.


Eatonton man confesses in lake death

Mark Howard Entrekin, 49, of Steel Bridge Road in Eatonton, has confessed to being the driver of the "speed boat" that killed a Milledgeville man Saturday.
Mark Baxter, 48, was killed when the pontoon boat that he and his wife and daughter were riding in was struck by another boat on Lake Sinclair. The boat then left the scene of the accident.
Baxter and his wife, Sandra, were thrown from the boat. Baxter was apparently killed on impact, a source close to the investigation said. Sandra Baxter received minor injuries and was treated and released from a local hospital.
Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee said Entrekin "faces multiple charges" stemming from the incident.
The driver of the boat had been the subject of an intense manhunt by local authorities and officials from the Department of Natural Resources.
The Union-Recorder will have more on this story as it develops.

[The Big Al]

Video Link to CBS newreport in Macon GA

http://www.13wmaz.com/video/player/player_news.aspx?aid=24616&sid=27643&bw=

[The Big Al]

Anouther video, more complete news and Mug of DRUNK JACK-ASS!!

http://www.fox24.com/newsvideo.asp?pkid=6101&video=2007

[bigbore]

not good guys,you gotta wonder,where-where the lights,why did'nt the pontooners see it coming?,thers more details for sure,and bless the family in morning,for sure,its easy to make the guy look like an a$$ though for not stopping,no matter what the situation was fleeing from that mistake is a rediculas thing to do,drunk or not.:cool:

[Racemore]

Iv'e been wondering about running lights too. That kind of accident just shouldn't happen other wise.:cool:

[sho305]

You know that must have been a heck of a rough ride running over that pontoon, I'm surprised they were able to stay in the boat if they didn't expect it.

[Propster]

The rough ride is why they got caught. The gal in the Gruman was taken to the hospital for minor injuries that she incurred during the accident. The cops didn't buy her BS story about how she was injured. When they investigated further they discovered what really happened. Good police work.

[sho305]

I'm surprised it was only her. When I was out on Lake Michigan all the time in 24' and larger boats people got hurt. They would fly around in the boat and break bones sometimes. That was just running waves, though sometimes they were pretty rough....that lake can really test a hull. But those were big deep vee I/Os, a lot more boat than that little deck boat.

[Chad Phillips]

Read my last post on page 3 of this thread.


sorry, didn't read it before I posted...guess thats what I get:o

[Raceman]

On the 11 oclock news last night they announced that a judge threw out the charges against the other couple in the boat for failure to render aid. The judge ruled that only the driver could be held accountable. The news report went on to state that there were no charges against the couple, but said the investigation was ongoing.

I can understand how the charge of failure to render could be dropped (although I hate it) because obviously the passengers didn't have direct control over the boat. (If I'd been a passenger there'd have been a fistfight with the driver if he'd tried to leave:mad: ) What I CAN NOT understand is why the previously mentioned charge of failure to report an accident and failure to identify a driver involved in a fatality seem to have vanished along with the failure to render. Seems like there's always some liberal judge around foaming at the mouth to get his name in the paper by protecting some obscure rights of a dirtball over those of an innocent victim.

[H2OPERF]

I totally agree,funny you said id be in a fistfight with the driver trying to leave.Gary and i were talking about the accident and i said the same thing,I would have beat the crap out of any one trying to leave some one to die in the water no matter who the driver was, best friend, brother, thats just inexcuseable.Dave

[yellowallison]

Amen Buther.. Preach it!!! :( :( :( :( j


What I CAN NOT understand is why the previously mentioned charge of failure to report an accident and failure to identify a driver involved in a fatality seem to have vanished along with the failure to render. Seems like there's always some liberal judge around foaming at the mouth to get his name in the paper by protecting some obscure rights of a dirtball over those of an innocent victim.

[Fish]

I totally agree,funny you said id be in a fistfight with the driver trying to leave.Gary and i were talking about the accident and i said the same thing,I would have beat the crap out of any one trying to leave some one to die in the water no matter who the driver was, best friend, brother, thats just inexcuseable.Dave

Could not agree more Dave!!

Raceman,
sometimes the way the statute is worded ties the hands of judges/prosecutors. I do not know what it says, but if it is something like " A operator of a vessel... who fails to render aid..." then since the passengers were not operating the boat the judge may have had no choice. With the political pressure a high profile case brings, I would imagine he/she would not have tossed the charges if he could have reasonable let them stick. just my $.02,

fish

[tunnelmike]

It way beyond statute and into morals. Louisiana boat registrations ( we dont have titles) say you are obligated to help boaters in distress. All aboard that vessel are guilty of that. The driver would have taken a severe kidney blow ,then I would have tied him up and helped the injured. Not only is that the right thing to do but it also would have helped them to look better in the eyes of the law. Since the others got off free I guess that didn't matter anyway ! All involved should never be allowed to pilot a boat of any kind again. The all displayed their true colors ! My .02 Mike

[stokernick]

maybe all of the above,but since none of y'all were there it's easy to say.A tragedy for sure and certainly could have been avoided with a little commen sense!

[Fish]

It way beyond statute and into morals. Louisiana boat registrations ( we dont have titles) say you are obligated to help boaters in distress. All aboard that vessel are guilty of that. The driver would have taken a severe kidney blow ,then I would have tied him up and helped the injured. Not only is that the right thing to do but it also would have helped them to look better in the eyes of the law. Since the others got off free I guess that didn't matter anyway ! All involved should never be allowed to pilot a boat of any kind again. The all displayed their true colors ! My .02 Mike
Mike, I am totally with you, and I agree that you should not be limited in what you do by what the law makes you do, you should do the right thing. My statute comment was only to the issue as to why a judge may have had to make the decision he/she did in dropping charges against the passengers despite his/her probably feeling the same way everyone else does- string them up by the balls! Sometimes there is no justice when it comes to Lady Justice.

[tunnelmike]

The .02 on my reply was in no way directed at you. I was ranting and I usually end that way ! You are absolutely right on the law and its interpretation. I was on a tangent directed at the lack of morals and our Joke (legal system).I really hadn't noticed you had signed .02 until after. We are definitely on the same team. Mike

[Instigator]

I totally agree,funny you said id be in a fistfight with the driver trying to leave.Gary and i were talking about the accident and i said the same thing,I would have beat the crap out of any one trying to leave some one to die in the water no matter who the driver was, best friend, brother, thats just inexcuseable.Dave
No way I could leave the scene regardless of whether I was driver or operator. Told Dave I'd jump out of who evers boat I was in, go help injured people and then turn in the drunk ass that I thought was a friend.
Have been out of touch for the last few days but was hoping they caught the worthless piece of crap!
Gary

[Tampa Cat]

Can the couple be forced to testify now that they no longer face charges?Would they have been required to render aid if it might place them at risk(strictly speaking)?Maybe this judge is on the ball.

[Raceman]

I don't know the answer. I DO SUSPECT (and hope) that they become really unpopular around here, since they didn't help, and didn't reveal the crime, even though there were hundreds of man hours devoted to it and some seemingly awfully nice people had their lives crushed. (surviving relatives)

I'm also wondering if the couple cut a deal to have charges dropped in exchange for testimony. They've somehow charged the driver with BUI in addition to the other charges when they first said there was no way to prove it after several days had elapsed. It's unclear from press coverage whether this is because of a confession or from testimony of one or more of the other 3 on his boat.

Also, I don't know this either, but since there's been speculation on the board here, there has been NOTHING disclosed publicly to suggest that the driver who was killed had been drinking himself OR that he was running with no or either partial lights. The insinuation at least from news coverage so far, and comments by law enforcement was that a drunk driver T boned a boat in an intersection that is particularly busy on this lake. Of course I don't know if the driver now under arrest was drunk or not, but a recent news story said he was now charged.