Paul Bennett charged in deadly Lake Lanier boating accident

Authorities have charged a man they say was involved in a deadly boating accident on Lake Lanier that claimed the life of at least one child.  The Georgia Department of Natural Resources says 44-year-old Paul Bennett was taken into custody at the Bald Ridge Marina in Forsyth County at around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Bennett faces charges of boating under the influence, and authorities say more charges may be forthcoming.  DNR investigators say Bennett was driving a center-console fishing boat at a high rate of speed when it slammed head-on into a pontoon boat around 10:30 p.m.  The pontoon boat was carrying 13 people, and as many as five people ended up in the water after the impact.  DNR authorities say Bennett left the scene of the accident.

A 9-year-old boy was killed, and officials say his 13-year-old brother remains missing and is presumed dead.  Dive teams continued to search the lake for the missing teen on Tuesday.

Authorities say a ranger responding to the scene was leaving the Bald Ridge Marina and saw the boat that hit the pontoon boat as it was coming into the marina.  After getting a good description from the victims, investigators went back to the marina, where they found the boat tied up to another vessel.   Bennett was then arrested, but a woman who was riding in the boat with him at the time of the crash was not taken into custody.

A pontoon boat with 13 people on board was struck head-on by another boat on Lake Lanier on Monday, June 18

Investigators say they are treating the crash as a hit and run, and they say Bennett has been cooperating with them.

Rescuers managed to bring some of the victims on the pontoon boat to shore. The 9-year-old boy was found dead at the scene.

"We removed him from the pontoon boat.  So they... we believe he never got in the water. If he did, the family retrieved him before we got here," said Hall County Fire Chief David Kimbrell.

Authorities say the Avalon pontoon party boat was carrying people from four different families, including four adults and nine children. The boat was recovered and towed to a boat ramp.

Two children and the mother of the 9-year-old boy who died were also injured.  They were taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, where firefighters said they were listed in stable condition.