WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – An unoccupied boat was “running circles” in a Waterford Township lake before it ran out of gas, according to the sheriff’s office.
A witness called 911 before 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, to report that a boat was out of control and running circles in the middle of Elizabeth Lake in Waterford Township. There was nobody in the boat and there appeared to be shoes floating in the water.
“When my phone went off with the emergency message on a report of unoccupied boat running in circles in middle of the lake at full throttle and clothing floating in the water, I thought this sure sounds like we’re going to have another tragic death,” Oakland County sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “Our team activated and thankfully by sheer luck, that was not the outcome.”
Multiple rescue boats, a strike team from Lapeer, a member of the Southeast Michigan Dive Group, and a sheriff’s office helicopter and drone unit were sent to the scene. Officials believed at least one person may have fallen overboard.
Not long after the witness called 911, the boat ran out of gas. Deputies recovered the 17-foot boat and found the safety lanyard was attached to the key, which was still in the ignition. The throttle had been pressed fully forward.
Deputies use the boat registration to locate the boat’s owner, a 35-year-old Waterford Township man. They contacted him at his home. The boat owner told deputies that he and his passenger, a 24-year-old Wixom woman, were thrown from the boat when they hit a wake. Neither were wearing a life jacket when they were thrown overboard, but they did swim to shore.
The boat was towed to shore and turned over to the owner. The sheriff’s office said that alcohol was involved, but the primary cause was the owner’s inexperience operating a boat. The incident is still under investigation.