A Northern California man died after his boat slammed into the shoreline and threw him from the vessel, according to Shasta County officials.
Dispatchers received a call for help at Shasta Lake around 5:20 p.m. Thursday. When Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, they learned that a boat carrying three people — a man, a woman and a child — had been traveling near Town Creek Cove on the Sulanharas Creek arm of Shasta Lake. During the outing, the vessel struck the shoreline with enough force to eject all three occupants.
Witnesses aboard a civilian boat reached the scene first. They helped the injured victims onto their vessel and transported them to Bridge Bay Marina, the sheriff’s office said. From there, an ambulance took the man and the child to a nearby hospital.
Doctors later pronounced the man, identified as 47-year-old Vingenzo Anthony Colletti, dead. Colletti lived in Palo Cedro, a community east of Redding.
According to the sheriff’s office, investigators believe the child was wearing a life jacket, but neither adult had one on.
The Shasta County Coroner’s Office is investigating the crash and will also perform an autopsy.
The incident marks the second tragedy on Shasta Lake in recent months. In April, a 5-year-old child drowned after entering the water without wearing a life jacket.
“The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office encourages the public to always have proper safety equipment while on waterways and to always wear a Personal Floatation Device,” the department wrote in a press release.
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