
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 26, 1995                   TAG: 9506260128
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BOAT ACCIDENT CALLED HIT-RUN

Five people, including two children, escaped serious injury Saturday night at Smith Mountain Lake after the boat they were aboard plowed through a dock and hit a boat in a sling.

"I was expecting to find some people with some pretty serious head injuries," said Sgt. Steve Pike of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Instead, Pike and officer Tim Hayes found debris on the water near the Briarcliff area of Bedford County. Several people told the officers they saw the boat pull away.

After investigating, Pike and Hayes charged Anthony Mitchell, 31, of Floyd County with reckless boating and leaving the scene of an accident. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Pike said residents of a house adjoining the property next to the destroyed dock heard the crash and went out to see if anyone was injured. When they shined a flashlight, they caught a glimpse of a boat speeding away.

Pike said he found a boat at Mitchell's house with a cracked hull and the windshield sheared off. The children, ages 9 and 10, who were riding in the front of the boat, were not injured, Lt. Karl Martin said. The three adults had small cuts, possibly from the broken windshield.

The dock and boat that were hit, both owned by Ronald Webb of Salem, sustained an estimated $4,000 damage.

by CNB