Boater Suffers Severe Injuries 4th of July Accident on Albert Lea Lake

Albert Lea, MN (KROC-AM News)- A boater was airlifted following an Independence Day boating accident on a dark lake in southern Minnesota. 

See Also: Alcohol Use Suspected in Rollover Injury Crash in Fillmore County 

A news release issued by the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to the accident shortly before 10 p.m. First responders found both of the watercraft involved in the middle of the lake. 

Deputies responded to the crash on Albert Lea Lake by the Freeborn County Humane Society, which lines the western shore of the lake. 

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The preliminary investigation indicates a 1997 Crestliner, crossing the lake at a high rate of speed, collided with the left side of a stationary pontoon. The crestliner went to shore to park as it had begun to sink, the news release says. 

Law enforcement identified the boater as 55-year-old Kelly Gardner of Albert Lea. The passengers, who are both from Albert Lea, are identified as 65-year-old Gary Register and 51-Carmelita Simpson. 

Register was flown from the scene to a Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester with what authorities described as severe injuries. 

Gardner was taken by ground ambulance to an Albert Lea hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Authorities say the two Albert Lea men on the pontoon, identified as 46-year-old Jeffrey Stewart and 43-year-old Luis Rios Perez, were not hurt. 

The news release says Stewart was the driver of the pontoon. Officials did not share an update on Gardner's condition. 

Both watercraft operators said they had their lights on. Alcohol was ruled out as a factor in the crash, according to the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office.