Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

Law enforcement officer dies in Hampton boating accident

James Newsome, a North Carolina sheriff’s lieutenant, died Saturday in a boating accident on the Chesapeake Bay near Hampton, WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C. reported.

Newsome, 55, of Knightdale, N.C., was aboard a boat with friends near Hampton Saturday afternoon when the accident happened. The boat capsized, according to the Raleigh station. A tugboat was also involved, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission told the station, but did not disclose any other details.

Newsome was thrown into the water with three other people. Kenneth Evan, 57, Tilghman Hall, 70, and William Thompson, 73, were hospitalized with minor injuries at Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman told The Virginian-Pilot that the fatal accident happened approximately one mile east of Fort Monroe.

The Coast Guard spokesman said the tugboat involved was pushing a barge, but said the investigation had not yet revealed the accident’s cause.

The four men were pulled from the water by passing boats with assistance from the Coast Guard, Hampton and Norfolk fire departments.

WVEC-TV reported that the men were taken to Old Point Comfort Marina at Fort Monroe.

Newsome was a detention officer with the Wake County Sheriff’s Department.

Boating crashes in Virginia are up significantly in 2009 over 2008, the Associated Press reported in September. As of Sept. 9, according to the AP story, there were 134 boating accidents offshore, in the Chesapeake Bay and in freshwater. In all of 2008 there were 95 crashes – the lowest total in 20 years.

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Labels: boating accident death fatal James Newsome Kenneth Evan maritime accident Tilghman Hall William Thompson