A Gainesville woman and Martin man face an August court date in Franklin County on charges related to a hit-and-run boating collision on Lake Hartwell in May.
“On Sunday, May 26, which was Memorial Day weekend, Cpl. Craig Fulghum received a call reference a hit-and-run boating incident that had occurred on Lake Hartwell in Franklin County near the Poplar Springs area,” said Public Affairs Officer Mark McKinnon of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division on Monday.
On Saturday, June 22, Fulghum charged the female operator, Barbara Clements of Gainesville, with reckless operation of a vessel, failure to report a boating incident, and failure to render assistance at a boating incident, McKinnon said.
Clements’ passenger, John Christian of Martin, was charged by Fulghum with failure to report a boating incident and failure to render assistance at a boating incident.
Clements and Christian were charged by DNR, but were not arrested, McKinnon said.
Describing the May incident, McKinnon said a pontoon boat with multiple occupants, including small children, was hit by a blue and white ski boat with a blond female driver and a male passenger.
“A report was made at the scene and an investigation started to find the other boat involved,” McKinnon said.
Following a local media and social media push by Fulghum, Fulghum received multiple tips and located the boat in question and interviewed two people matching the description given on the date of the incident, according to McKinnon. That led him to Saturday’s charges in the collision.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/6/807906/dnr-charges-gainesville-woman-her-passenger-in-hit-and-run-boating-crash