2 Die, 4 Injured in Lake Havasu Boat Collision : One of Those Killed Is From Huntington Beach

A Memorial Day weekend boating accident at Lake Havasu City killed two women, including one from Huntington Beach, and seriously injured four men, Arizona officials said.

An Anaheim man, identified as the driver of one of two boats that collided on Lake Havasu at 8:35 p.m. Sunday, was arrested on suspicion of operating a boat while intoxicated, according to Sheriff Joe Bonzelet of Arizona’s Mojave County. The collision involved seven people in one boat and four in the other.

Bonzelet said the two women killed were Molly Lynn Roberts, 30, of Huntington Beach and Karen Butcher, 25, of San Bernardino.

4 Injured Are Listed

Four men in the same boat were seriously injured, Bonzelet said. They were identified as Charles G. Salisbury, 49, and Craig Hawkins, 26, both of Riverside; Brian Pletcher, 26, of Lake Elsinore and David Jacobs, 32, whose hometown was not immediately known.

The four men were airlifted to Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix immediately after the accident. A hospital official said on Monday that Pletcher and Hawkins remained in critical condition and that Salisbury and Jacobs were in serious condition. All of the men suffered head injuries.

Bonzelet said that a seventh person, Julie Salisbury, wife of the injured boat driver, was not hurt.

None of the four people in the second boat were injured, Bonzelet said. The driver of the second boat was identified as Carl Bruce Hacker, 28, of Anaheim, who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of operating a boat while intoxicated, he said.

The three passengers in Hacker’s boat, all from Anaheim, were identified as Brad Jenkins, Theresa Jenkins and Ron Fitzgerald.

Crash in Darkness

Bonzelet said that the accident occurred after darkness had fallen over the crowded lake, which is on the Colorado River bordering California and Arizona.

“The boat with four persons rolled over the top of the other boat, which had seven persons in it,” Bonzelet said. “The two women who were killed were sitting in the rear of the boat that had seven persons in it. Julie Salisbury was also in the rear, but she was thrown into the water and wasn’t hurt.”

Bonzelet said that Hacker and the three passengers in his boat were thrown into the water by the collision, and their boat sank. It was a 19-foot outboard, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Kuerner of the Lake Havasu City branch of the Sheriff’s Office.

Kuerner said the boat driven by Charles Salisbury was a 21-foot outboard. The collision took place about half a mile from the Sand Point Marina.

Bonzelet said that the Lake Havasu area had been crowded with California vacationers over the weekend. There were so many boats, he said, “that you could walk across the lake and never get your feet wet.”

Kuerner said the investigation of the accident is continuing.