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Last updated on Friday, July 29, 2016
(FISHERS) - Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating a personal injury boat crash that occurred Thursday night on Geist Reservoir.
At approximately 8:49 p.m. a 911 call was placed to Hamilton County Dispatch advising of a two boat crash near "Cocktail Cove" in Fishers. When officers arrived on the scene they found multiple people in the water swimming away from the boats.
Police say 19-year-old John Preston, of Indianapolis, was operating a 2012 twenty-one-foot Correct Craft motorboat when it crashed into another boat that was parked near the mouth of the cove. T
he boat Preston was operating was occupied by a total of eleven people at the time of the crash. All were ejected from the boat; however, no injuries were reported from these occupants.
The boat struck was a 1996 eighteen-foot Bayliner occupied by two subjects, William and Sherry Lambert, both of McCordsville. Heavy damage was caused to the Bayliner and Sherry Lambert was injured. A good Samaritan arrived in another boat and transported the Lamberts to shore.
Officers searched the water by boat in the general area of the crash to ensure all subjects were accounted for.
Preston was observed fleeing the scene along with 18-year-old Philip Paligraf of Fishers.
Paligraf was arrested after getting into a foot pursuit with Conservation officers, Fishers Police officers, and an off-duty Lawrence Police Officer.
Preston was taken into custody at his residence a short time later.
Conservation Officers cited and released five subjects that were passengers in Preston's boat at the time of the crash for minor consumption of alcohol. Preston was booked into the Hamilton County Jail on the charges of fleeing the scene of an accident, boating while intoxicated resulting in bodily injury, and minor consumption of alcohol. Paligraf was booked into the Hamilton County Jail on the charges of fleeing the scene of an accident, resisting law enforcement, and minor consumption of alcohol.
William Lambert was checked by EMS on shore near the scene and released without injury. Sherry Lambert was transported to Community North Hospital by Indianapolis Fire Department ambulance. She was treated and released with non-life threatening injuries.
A reconstruction of the boat accident will be completed by Conservation Officer boat accident investigators. Assisting agencies at the scene included Fishers Police, Fishers Fire, and Indianapolis Fire. All subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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