Investigation underway into Moses Lake boat, personal watercraft collision

MOSES LAKE — Investigators from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office say there is no indication that intoxicating substances were involved in a collision between a boat and personal watercraft Sunday on Moses Lake. 

“Deputies believe the operator of the personal watercraft caused the collision,” wrote Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, in a press release. “The operator, an 18-year-old man from Auburn, Washington, has a lifelong medical condition that may have played a role in the collision.” 

The collision occurred in the Laguna area of the lake, according to information from the Moses Lake Fire Department.  

“The operator of the boat is from Moses Lake, and deputies say they bear no fault in this collision,” Foreman wrote.  

While the lake is within the Moses Lake city limits, the waters are under GCSO jurisdiction, Foreman said in answer to a question from the Columbia Basin Herald. 

Eight people were injured, the MLFD release said. Foreman said one person was airlifted to Spokane and another to Seattle for further treatment. Three people were transported to Samaritan Hospital.  

The case is still under investigation, and because of that, the names of the people involved are not being released now, Foreman said.  

“The results of the final investigation report will be submitted to the Grant County Prosecuting Attorney to review and consider criminal charges,” Foreman said.