PENN TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – After two boats collided on Diamond Lake in Cass County’s Penn Township Tuesday, an 86-year-old man was injured when he was thrown into the water.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says 74-year-old Bruce McCartney of South Bend, Indiana was driving his 16-foot Lund boat on the south end of Diamond Lake when he crashed into a Nitro fishing boat. Gene Delavoret, a 70-year-old from St. Joseph, and 73-year-old Richard Knapp Jr. from Three Oaks were in the Nitro boat.
McCartney’s passenger, 86-year-old Robert Schmitt, also from South Bend, was thrown from their boat in the crash. He was unconscious in the water, and McCartney’s boat was still running and circled the Nitro boat several times until the driver took control. It then started to take on water.
Deputies say Delaforet and Knapp, who were in the Nitro boat, pulled Schmitt from the water.
A Cass County Marine Unit responded to the scene and got all the men and boats back to shore. There is no word on the extent of Schmitt’s injuries.
Although personal floatation devices were on board both boats, the sheriff’s office says they were not being worn at the time of the crash.
