A speeding boater struck a docked boat on a western Minnesota lake and killed a man on the parked vessel, authorities in Otter Tail County said Monday.
Speeding Minnesota boater hits docked boat, kills neighbor, sheriff says
August 25, 2020 at 10:57AM
The wreck occurred midafternoon Saturday along the eastern shore of Otter Tail Lake, the Sheriff's Office said.
Killed in the crash was Neil Baker, 52, of Elysian, Minn., according to the Sheriff's Office.
The operator of the speeding boat, 72-year-old Charles Gramith of Roseville, remains jailed Monday on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide.
Sheriff's Lt. Lieutenant Keith Van Dyke said his office is investigating whether Gramith was impaired by drugs or alcohol. Van Dyke said details will be disclosed once charges are filed.
According to the Sheriff's Office:
Baker had just returned to his dock after he and several family members had been out on the water. All but Baker and his wife got off the boat while the couple remained aboard "organizing its contents and securing it to the dock," a Sheriff's Office statement read.
Gramith, who has property next to the Bakers' land, struck the parked boat "at a high rate of speed" and sent the couple into the water, the statement continued.
Neighbors gave aid to Baker before emergency responders arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene. His wife was unhurt.
Authorities have yet to say whether Baker died from the impact or drowned.
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