Man Charged in Summer Late Night Boating Crash on Little Traverse Bay

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. The trooper 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 now 27-year-old Elijah William
Townsend from Grand Rapids, who was drifting in the sinking boat. Harbor Springs Police Department
used their marine patrol boat to rescue Townsend. 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. Townsend stayed
with the boat as it drifted out and began to sink.

The MSP Crime Lab analysis of Townsend’s blood indicated his blood alcohol content was over three
times the legal limit. An arrest warrant was issued for Townsend.

Townsend was arraigned yesterday in the 90th District Court in Emmet County for two counts Operating
Watercraft Under the Influence Causing Injury, and one count Marine Safety OUIL. He remains lodged in
the Emmet County Jail on a $5,000 bond. His next scheduled court appearance is on December 7, 2022,
at 2:00 p.m.