DATE: Saturday, July 12, 1997               TAG: 9707120287

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   68 lines

RUNAWAY WATERCRAFT INJURES FOUR CHILDREN OCEANFRONT ACCIDENT FITS INTO A GROWING TREND NATIONWIDE, ACCORDING TO POLICE.

A riderless personal watercraft running at full throttle ran over two girls in the water and then slammed into the 33rd Street beach on Friday afternoon, injuring two more children, police said.

The accident occurred despite desperate efforts by lifeguards to warn people away and by an employee of the company that owned the craft to chase it down.

Two of the injured were treated by paramedics at the scene. The other two were treated at Virginia Beach General Hospital. All were released. They are:

Jamie Schulte, who suffered a wrenched arm and a cut on her shoulder, and her friend, Jessica Reed, who was left with a two-inch lump on her head. The two 16-year-olds, from Oneonta, N.Y., are vacationing with the Schulte family.

Samantha Wilson, 5, of Bellingham, Mass., who suffered multiple injuries. She was vacationing with her mother and visiting her father in Virginia Beach.

Steven Nohe, 3, of the 200 block of Palmyra Drive, who suffered minor injuries.

It's the latest in a series of accidents involving such craft, commonly referred to by the trade name Jet Skis. Several people have been hurt this summer, some seriously.

``I think we're having more accidents because there are more Jet Skis out here this season,'' said Mike Carey, a police spokesman. He said the increase in accidents locally appears to be matched by increases across the nation. ``We're very concerned.''

Carey said the accident happened about 12:30 p.m. as an employee of Oceanfront Wave Runner Rentals at 31st and Atlantic Avenue, a subsidiary of David Parker Enterprises, moved a 1995 Yamaha Wave Runner to the surf at 33rd Street.

The engine was idling. A ``kill switch'' lanyard, designed to stop the engine if a rider falls off, was hanging freely. As the employee attempted to get the craft into heavy surf, ``the throttle became stuck wide open,'' Carey said, and it sped into the ocean with no one on it.

``The employee chased after it on another Jet Ski and attempted to jump on it,'' Carey said. ``He made quite an effort; however, he landed in the water.''

The craft hit a large wave that turned it toward the beach traveling at 45 mph, Carey said. A lifeguard at 32nd Street spotted it and alerted stations at 33rd and 34th streets. Guards signaled beachgoers and swimmers to flee.

The two girls, who were in waist-deep water, heard the guards' alerts, said Esther Schulte, Jamie's mother. But by the time they understood the threat, it was too late.

``It hit Jessica right in the head and she went under,'' Esther Schulte said. Jamie, who had realized what was happening a second sooner and tried to pull Jessica to safety, also was hit.

The craft hit the beach, striking Steven and throwing Samantha into the air, before finally stopping about 50 feet from the water's edge.

A lifeguard, whom Esther Schulte could only identify as William, went to the teens' aid.

``William was wonderful,'' she said. ``Jessica was hysterical. They were in shock and they were not doing anything for themselves.'' He got them ashore.

Police are still investigating the accident, but no charges have been filed.

Friday night, the teen-agers were patched up but still shaken.

``Boy, I didn't come down here to get hit by a Jet Ski,'' Jessica said. But she said she's willing to vacation at the Beach again. ``Sure, I'll come back. Just as long as there are no Wave Runners about to hit my head.'' MEMO: Staff writer Adam Bernstein contributed to this report. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT BOAT JET SKI INJURIES

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