Police charged a Minnesota man after he allegedly drunkenly crashed a jet ski pulling two children Saturday.
The two children were allegedly being pulled along by the jet ski on a leisure tube when the crash occurred. Officers charged Ryan James Willis, 42, with a pair of felony counts of criminal vehicular operation as well as a misdemeanor DUI, KARE 11 reported, citing court documents.
The two nine-year-olds were taken to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis as a result of the crash, according to the outlet. One boy reportedly suffered concussion symptoms. The other had to be airlifted to the medical center due to suffering a “skull fracture with a large laceration to the right side of his head, a bruised right lung, and bruising on the right side of his body,” according to KARE 11.
The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office says two juveniles were injured in a tubing accident on Watab Lake in St. Wendel Township last Saturday afternoon when a tube being towed behind a jet ski collided with a dock near the shore.https://t.co/9G6P8jOq8m
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Stearns County police officers reportedly responded to a “watercraft accident” at Watab Lake in central Minnesota at rougly 4:30 p.m. (RELATED: ‘I Was Drinking!:’ Florida Mom Crashes Her Car, Gets Second DUI In Two Months With Multiple Children In Vehicle)
Willis told police he’d been cruising the jet ski too close to the shoreline when the tube collided with a neighbor’s private dock, according to KARE 11. One of the cops reportedly smelled a substantial amount of alcohol on Willis’ breath during the interview. Willis underwent a field sobriety test, in which he “showed signs of impairment,” according to a criminal complaint cited by the outlet.
Willis reportedly admitted to police that he’d consumed alcohol.
His breath test registered an alcohol concentration level of .148, according to KARE 11, while the state’s legal limit is 0.08. The results of a blood test are reportedly pending.