SIMI VALLEY : Man Killed in Lake Boating Accident

A Simi Valley man was killed when he jumped from the back of a crowded houseboat on an Arizona lake and was struck by the boat’s propeller, authorities said Monday.

Emilio Cruz, 20, was among 90 people on four linked houseboats near Lake Havasu’s Copper Canyon, a popular spring break party spot, said Tonya Dowe, a Mohave County Sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Cruz and another man jumped off the back of one of the boats Sunday afternoon and Cruz was struck in the abdomen, groin and leg by the propeller, she said. He was pulled from the water by sheriff’s deputies and state Game and Fish employees and was flown to Havasu Samaritan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, she said.

The spokeswoman didn’t know whether Cruz was a student. The town has been full of spring break revelers during college vacations last week for Arizona schools and this week for California schools.