Water Skier, 26, Killed by Boat That Towed Him

A 26-year-old water skier was fatally injured Sunday afternoon when he was run over by a boat that had been towing him, police said.

Louis Michael Andreoli of Newport Beach was pronounced dead at 2:09 p.m., less than an hour after the boating mishap in which he suffered head injuries, police said.

Andreoli had gone water skiing with three friends in a borrowed, 18-foot inboard-outboard power boat Sunday afternoon.

He was skiing about 400 yards offshore from the main Corona del Mar beach Sunday afternoon when, “for some reason, he was run over by his friends,” said Lt. Don Chandler of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Chandler said the boat was impounded and the case is under investigation. He refused to elaborate.

Lt. William Francis of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which responded to the incident, said: “We’re satisfied that it’s strictly a boating accident. There’s nothing to indicate there was anything intentional, absolutely nothing.”

Francis declined further comment.

Chandler said he could remember few if any fatalities like the one Sunday. And Sgt. Howard Mol of the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol, while recalling some serious jet-ski accidents, said: “This is really the first fatal water-skiing accident in at least four years.”