(LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO) – Six Iowans are recovering after two separate incidents at the Lake of the Ozarks Labor Day weekend. All six people suffered serious injuries, but will recover.
The most serious crash occurred around 11:30 Friday night when a boat driven by Steve Boland, 45, of Cedar Rapids crashed into the shoreline throwing three people from the boat.
Those thrown from the boat include MiKayla Boland, an Iowa State Student, Abigail Williams, 20, of Cedar Rapids, and Cynthia Collins, 20, of Des Moines. All three of them were flown to the hospital in serious condition.
Steven Boland, was also taken by air ambulance to hospital after being arrested for boating while intoxicated.
The Missouri Highway State Patrol says incidents like these are why officers are out on the lake in full force this holiday weekend.
“Every able officer at the Lake of the Ozarks is going to be out there,” Cpl. Scott White told Local 5 reporter Chris Oswalt.. “With gas prices down and the warm temps that we have, we’ve had a lot of cool weekends this summer and there are just a lot of people out on the lake right now so all available officers will be out on the Lake of the Ozarks patrolling.”
An additional person was hurt during a skiing accident on Thursday. An incident report says Chase Hessenius, 22, from Marshalltown fell into the water while skiing. He was taken to the hospital in moderate condition. An additional person with Chase did not need medical attention.
Both cases are still being investigated by the state patrol. The State Patrol says charges are possible.
