MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — Two juveniles are hospitalized and the driver of the boat that was towing them is criminally charged after a tubing accident in the northwest metro Saturday night.
Jordan Seitz of Maple Grove faces four counts of criminal vehicular operation, two involving operation under the influence, in connection with the mishap which occurred on Eagle Lake in Maple Grove. All four counts refer to great bodily harm suffered by the young victims.
Maple Grove Police, Hennepin County Deputies and the Water Patrol were dispatched after reports that a tube being towed by a boat had crashed into a dock.
Responding officers say the boat was pulling a pair of tubes, one of which had three juveniles aboard. That tube crashed into a boat lift and the three children aboard were thrown into a nearby dock. Two of those riders were knocked unconscious. A boy suffered a traumatic brain injury, a scalp laceration, fractured vertebra and abdominal injuries. A girl sustained a serious head injury. Both were taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.
The other tube had two juveniles on it, and five juvenile passengers were riding in the boat when the accident occurred.
Prosecutors say the 34-year-old Seitz was hosting a boating party for her daughter's friends that Saturday. Witnesses say she drove the boat too close to shore, and as she turned back toward open water one of the pullables hit the boat lift.
When talking to her following the collision deputies smelled alcohol on Seitz's breath, and noticed her eyes were bloodshot. She denied drinking alcohol but a preliminary breath test registered .108, which is over the limit for a motorized vehicle. The driver was arrested, and booked into the Hennepin County Jail for suspected Criminal Vehicular Operation.
In a statement to investigators Seitz reportedly admitted she was the only driver of the boat that day, and stated she couldn't remember if she had consumed alcohol.
Investigators filed for a warrant seeking access to the phones of juveniles aboard the boat that may have videotaped the incident or evidence of the driver drinking alcoholic beverages.