Multiple hospitalizations, 1 arrest on Georgia lakes during 4th of July celebrations
Lake Lanier (FOX 5)
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Game wardens with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources spent the Fourth of July holiday responding to multiple incidents on the Peach State's lakes.
Officials with the agency tell FOX 5 that four people were transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville after two incidents on Lake Lanier in less than two hours.
According to the DNR, two personal watercraft crashed on the lake at around 1 p.m. on Thursday. Game wardens determined that the driver of one of the rented vehicles was at fault and arrested them. The three occupants of the other vehicle were transported for treatment of lacerations, abrasions, and several fractures. The crash remains under investigation.
Just an hour and a half later, game wardens were back on the lake after officials say a man jumped off the side of a boat into shallow water, fracturing his rib.
On Friday, officials say they rescued a stranded boater in the middle of Lake Harding and transported another boat operator on Lake Hartwell who hit his head while the vessel was going over a wake.
The same day, game wardens noticed a boat towing a person on a tube without an observer on Lake Oconee. Before the wardens could stop the boat, officials say the 21-year-old man on the tube was launched into the water, dislocating his shoulder. He was transported to St. Mary's Hospital in Greensboro. The boat operator was charged with towing without an observer and operating a vessel without boater education.
In total, officials say they have issued 18 boating under the influence citations during the holiday.
Georgia DNR officials have reported one death during the holiday. Officials have confirmed with FOX 5 that 16-year-old Laquvis McCray from Atlanta drowned while on a trip with family and friends to Tybee Island near Back River on Friday.
Officials expect to share another update on injuries and charges on Sunday.