Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Boater Dies After Fireworks Display

The Westport Police Department is investigating.

Charles Lucas, a 58-year-old Westport man, died in a boating accident Friday after the fireworks, the Westport Police Department reported Saturday morning.

A preliminary investigation into the boating accident revealed Lucas fell off a vessel returning from the fireworks and was hit by a propeller, police said.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Tuesday afternoon that Lucas died from "multiple blunt traumatic injuries" as a result of an accident.

Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Around 10:22 p.m. Friday, Westport Police Marine Units received a report of a man overboard in the Saugatuck River between Cedar Point Yacht Club and Longshore, according to Capt. Sam Arciola. Responding units located a small vessel occupied by two people holding on to Lucas who was unconscious and unresponsive.

The vessel that Lucas had fallen off of  was in the same area and was actively searching for him when marine units arrived.  Police are not releasing whether Lucas was hit by the boat he was an occupant of or by another boat in the area.

Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lucas was taken on board the Police Marine Unit and transported to Compo Marina where he was pronounced deceased by paramedics. 

The accident remains under investigation by the Westport Police Marine Division, Detective Bureau and officers from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. 

An autopsy of the victim was conducted Tuesday at the State Medical Examiner's Office.


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