Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990 TAG: 9007140425
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES PAGE: SMT-8 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On June 29, a 4-year-old Richmond girl drowned on the Blackwater section, near Deer Creek Estates, according to Game Warden T.E. Hayes.
Hayes said the girl had been wearing a life preserver when she was swimming with her family earlier in the day. Around 5:30 p.m., the girl returned unnoticed to the lake without a flotation device and was later found floating in the water.
Resuscitation attempts by her father and members of the Scruggs Rescue Squad were unsuccessful. The girl was pronounced dead at 6:31 p.m. at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Rocky Mount.
On June 30, a jet-ski operator escaped injury when he jumped off the craft just before it collided with a boat on the Blackwater section, near the Scruggs boat ramp.
Hayes said the jet ski struck the boat broadside, traveled under the boat's hull and came up on the other side.
The jet-ski operator, James Bhane, 22, of Roanoke, was charged with reckless operation of a watercraft. The driver of the boat, Davy S. Whitmire, 56, of Roanoke, was unhurt, Hayes said.
On July 3, Brenda C. Willard of Roanoke was charged with reckless operation after she collided with a boat during a chase with a Game Department patrol boat.
Hayes said he spotted Willard's 22-foot pleasure boat without a stern light around 11 p.m. The warden said he turned on his police light and tried to pull the boat over, but it continued at full speed for several miles.
At the Waterfront, Willard's boat collided with a third boat driven by David Bromm, 33, of Roanoke. Neither Bromm, Willard nor her husband, developer Ron Willard, were injured. Damage to the two boats came to about $6,000, Hayes said.
A hearing for Brenda Willard is scheduled for Aug. 9 in Franklin County General District Court.
On July 4, a Chatham man was charged with operating a boat under the influence and brandishing a firearm after an incident at Docksider's restaurant.
Billy Scott McCoy, 29, faces four charges in Bedford County General District Court.
Game wardens responding to a report of a man brandishing a firearm at Docksider's chased a boat nearly 6 miles down the Roanoke River.
Wardens arrested McCoy and charged him with driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless operation of a boat. Docksider's manager Emerald Coleman later swore out warrants charging McCoy with brandishing a firearm and abusive language.
McCoy was released on a $1,500 personal recognizance bond pending a hearing Aug. 20.
by CNB