EMMET COUNTY, MI. On Wednesday, August 17, 2022, at approximately 2:50 a.m. troopers from the
Michigan State Police (MSP) Gaylord Post responded to a call for help from a boater on Little Traverse
Bay. A Petoskey resident called 911 to report a man yelling for help. Troopers searched the area and
found two persons sitting on the breakwall near Bay View. A 21-year-old Florida woman had severe
injuries to her right arm. Troopers applied a torniquet to her arm. A 41-year-old Massachusetts man had
suffered injuries to his head and face. The man yelling for help, was a 26-year-old from Grand Rapids,
who was now drifting in the sinking boat. Harbor Springs Police Department utilized their marine patrol
boat and rescued the man. EMS personnel arrived to treat and transport the victims. All three occupants
of the boat were admitted to McLaren Hospital in Petoskey with non-life-threatening injuries.
The initial investigation indicates they had left Harbor Springs at an unknown time to go boating. They
were in a 2020 Chaparral. It appears they struck the breakwall in Bay View at a high rate of speed,
causing the Florida woman and Massachusetts man to be ejected into the breakwall. The Grand Rapids
man who was driving the boat, hit his face on the console, and stayed with the boat as it drifted out and
began to sink. Alcohol is believed to be a factor. The U.S. Coast Guard has been contacted and are
planning to retrieve the now partially submerged boat from the bay.
Troopers were assisted at the scene by Petoskey Public Safety, Emmet County Sheriff’s Office, Harbor
Springs Police Department, and Emmet County EMS
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