CAMPBELL COUNTY, Tenn. — Update: An Ohio man who had been charged after a boat crash on Norris Lake pleaded guilty to failure to report a boating accident, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Campbell County Clerk's Office.
Brandt Lambert, 30, of Centerburg, Ohio, was originally facing several charges after a man was injured in a boat crash near Whitman Hollow Marina involving a wakeboard boat and ski boat on July 2, 2021. Months later on Oct. 26, 2021, the clerk's office said he pleaded guilty to failure to report a boating accident. According to the TWRA, the boater had originally left the scene of the crash but later returned.
The TWRA said Lambert was fined and had his boating privileges suspended for one year in Tennessee. He was originally cited for reckless operation of a vessel with injury, a no-wake zone violation, failure to maintain a proper lookout, and failure to maintain a safe speed -- but all of those charges were dismissed.
Original Story (7/2/21):
One boater was seriously injured and another charged Friday after two vessels collided on Norris Lake in Campbell County, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The injured man, whose name was not released, was being treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Also, Brandt Lambert, 30, of Centerburg, Ohio, was charged with reckless operation of a vessel with injury, a no-wake zone violation, failure to maintain a proper lookout, and failure to maintain a safe speed, according to TWRA.
The incident happened just before 12:30 a.m. Friday on the lake near Whitman Hollow Marina.
A 2019 Axis wakeboard boat was struck from behind by a 1988 Mastercraft ski boat as both watercraft were leaving the no-wake zone, according to the TWRA. Lambert was operating the Mastercraft ski boat.
The injured man was thrown from one boat, and another person was thrown but not hurt from the other craft.
According to TWRA, the investigation continues.
