UPDATED (6/14/17)
More charges have been filed in the boating accident at Lake Maloney on Monday.
As the ongoing investigation continues, Mary Haney, has also been charged in connection with the case. According to jail records, Mary Haney has been charged with felony child abuse and felony destruction of evidence.
We will have more information when it’s available.
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Authorities say a combination of speed, driving too close to the shoreline and possibly alcohol led to a boating accident at Lake Maloney that left a nine-year-old girl with serious injuries.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, North Platte Rescue, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and deputies responded to the report of a boating accident at around 5:57 p.m., on June 12.
A news release says the accident occurred near South Beach, on the southwest side of the lake. When first-responders arrived, they found the girl with serious injuries to her leg, arm, and head. Another female juvenile was found to have sustained minor injuries.
A joint investigation revealed that the two juveniles had been on a flotation device being pulled by a boat operated by 53-year-old Doug Haney.
Witnesses reported that Haney had been operating the boat very close to the shoreline, and was traveling at a high rate of speed. At one point, the watercraft traveled close to some rocks on the shoreline and made a sharp turn, causing the girls to be thrown from the flotation device and into the rocks.
Deputies say Haney left the scene in the boat upon the arrival of law enforcement. The boat was eventually located at Frontier Resort and, a short time later, deputies made contact with Haney who they say appeared to be intoxicated. Haney reportedly refused to take field sobriety tests.
It was determined that there was probable cause to place Haney under arrest and charge him with boating under the influence of liquor and two counts of felony child abuse. He was transported to Great Plains Health where a chemical test was conducted, the results of the tests are not known at this time. He was then jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.
Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says the nine-year-old victim was transported to Great Plains Health before being transported to CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. She was then reportedly transferred to an Omaha hospital.
The investigation is ongoing.