WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
Cass County sheriff’s deputies responded to a water rescue last week.
Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies responded shortly before at 11 a.m. last Tuesday to Diamond Lake in Penn Township.
Investigators said South Bend resident Bruce McCartney, 74, was operating a 16-foot Lund boat on the south end of Diamond Lake near Diamond Island’s ferry. Authorities said the boat he was driving crashed into a Nitro fishing boat. The Nitro boat was occupied by 70-year-old Gene Delaforet, of St Joseph, and passenger Richard Knapp Jr., 73 from Three Oaks.
McCartney’s passenger, Robert Schmitt, 86, from South Bend, was ejected from the boat and unconscious in the water. McCartney’s boat remained under power and circled Delaforet’s watercraft multiple times until McCartney could regain control of the boat.
Delaforet and Knapp then pulled Schmitt from the water. McCartney’s boat was slowly taking on water because of the crash.
A Cass County Marine Unit assisted getting the subjects and boats back to shore, where Schmitt was treated for his injuries.
