Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990 TAG: 9007270709
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: NEWBERN LENGTH: Medium
Richard K. Alley of 11th Street in Northwest Pulaski was pronounced dead at nearby Rockhouse Marina, where he was taken shortly after the 8 p.m. collision.
Alley had been riding the jet ski in a narrow inlet in the southwest portion of the lake called Peak Creek Hollow, said Lt. Ralph Dobbins of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department.
"There's a real sharp bend in the cove. Visibility is poor," Dobbins said.
Witnesses told police that Alley was riding on the right side of the cove when a boat came around the bend traveling on the left side in the opposite direction, "which would put him on the wrong side of the lake," Dobbins said.
James Franklin Pugh, 34, of Wytheville, was operating the boat, which was also occupied by his wife, their son and another boy, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in Marion.
When the two craft collided, Pugh and his wife were thrown from the fishing boat into the water. Two nearby fishermen witnessed the collision and rescued the Pughs. The fishermen also pulled Alley from the water and tried resuscitating him while they took him in their boat to meet rescue workers at the marina, Dobbins said.
The Pughs and the two boys were taken to Radford Community Hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released.
Dobbins said no charges were brought, but the case has been turned over to the game and fish division. Spokeswoman Virginia Jesse said no charges had been filed.
A spokesman for the game division in Richmond said Alley's death was the 14th boat-related fatality in Virginia this year.
by CNB