West Virginia DNR asks public for help in boat escape incident | News, Sports, Jobs

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Parkersburg Office is requesting information regarding an incident that occurred Saturday evening on Buckley Island (pictured), where a man piloting a boat rammed a vessel anchored near the island and then fled. (Photo provided)

WILLIAMSTOWN – The Parkersburg office of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is seeking information regarding a hit-and-run boating accident that occurred over the weekend.
“Two boats were anchored approximately to starboard on the (Ohio) River” and a man who sailed a boat around the “The northern end of Buckley Island rammed one of the ships at anchor,” DNR Sergeant Charles Stephens said the incident occurred on August 24 at approximately 9:50 p.m., Stephens said.
“The two drivers exchanged words” he said, and after they had done so, the man who hit the anchored boat, “fled the crime scene.”
The Parkersburg DNR office has launched an investigation and is working on a reconstruction of the accident, Stephens said. The Parkersburg DNR office is asking the public for information on the boat the man who struck the anchored vessel was driving, Stephens said. They are looking for anyone who owns a boat with a standard white or cream-colored fiberglass hull with damage to the starboard (right) side of the hull, he said. Hit-and-run boating accidents don't happen often, according to Stephens, and when people leave the scene of an accident, it's usually because of a medical emergency. Stephens is asking anyone with information on this incident to contact the WV DNR office in Parkersburg at 304-420-4550. He said people can also submit an anonymous tip through the WV DNR website at.
Michelle Dillon can be reached at [email protected]