Nearby: Baby Injured in Allatoona Boat Crash

An infant was among five people who were injured in a boating accident late Saturday evening.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Law Enforcement Division responded around 11:30 pm. July 5 to assist in a boat crash near the mouth of Illinois Creek at Lake Allatoona in Bartow County. Rangers were patrolling the area during the fireworks show at the Allatoona Yacht Club, so they responded "within minutes," said DNR spokesperson Mark McKinnon. 

When they arrived onto the scene, they found five people — including the four-month-old infant — injured on a Maxum cabin cruiser. Rangers transported the group to the nearest boat ramp for treatment. It was determined they suffered non-life threatening injuries, so they were all taken to Cartersville Medical Center for further medical attention, McKinnon stated.  

McKinnon said witnesses told rangers that a Chaparral ski boat over took the Maxum cabin cruiser from behind. They also said "the ski boat hit the cabin cruiser from the rear, went up and over the boat causing significant damage to the vessel," he added.

The operator of the cabin cruiser sustained the most injuries, and there was only one minor injury among the four people in the Chaparral vessel.  

McKinnon stated the operator of the ski boat "was found to be impaired" and arrested for boating under the influence. The crash remains under investigation.