Man Charged After Boys Injured in Tubing Crash

(KNSI) — Prosecutors have filed charges against a 42-year-old man for allegedly being under the influence while he operated a jet ski and caused a crash that seriously injured two kids.

According to the criminal complaint, on the afternoon of July 8th, deputies from the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call of a watercraft accident on Watab Lake in St. Wendel Township. A tube pulled behind a jet ski crashed into a dock, and the nine-year-old boys on the tube were injured. One of them suffered a skull fracture, a bruised lung, bruising on the right side of his body, and a large laceration on the side of his head. He was airlifted to Children’s Hospital for treatment. The other boy was taken to CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital after a potential concussion and had pain throughout his body.

Investigators say Ryan James Willis told them he was driving the jet ski and got too close to the shore, causing the tube to hit a neighbor’s dock. Deputies say Willis was showing signs of impairment before he admitted he had been drinking. A preliminary breath test was administered and showed his blood alcohol concentration at .148, according to court documents.

Willis was charged with driving while intoxicated and two counts of criminal vehicular operation causing great bodily harm. He is due back in court on September 1st.

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