Lake Keowee pontoon accident leads to lawsuit

The pleadings in a new lawsuit place the blame for an accident last summer involving two pontoon boats in Lake Keowee on the operator of one of the craft that allegedly was the sole contributor to what happened.  A Greenville attorney filed suit yesterday in the Oconee Common Pleas Court alleging negligence on the part of Frank Elam, a Salem resident.  The plaintiffs in the case are Jerry Eskew of Salem and Mary Mullen of Bluffton.  According to the lawsuit, at the time, the pontoon operated by Eskew idled near the Stamp Creek landing.  The lawsuit alleges that Elam’s “negligent operation of his motorized pontoon boat resulted in a violent collision and proximately caused injuries to various parts of Plaintiff’s bodies and damage to the real and personal property of the Plaintiffs.”  According to the plaintiffs’ claims, “After being alerted by Plaintiff Mullen the occupants of Plaintiff Eskew’s boat all began to yell out to Defendant’s boat and attempt to get his attention and wave him off.  While a few yards away Defendant saw Plaintiff’s boat and attempted to veer right to avoid head-on impact but was unable to maneuver due to the speed of his approach.  Unable to evade Plaintiff’s boat, Defendant drove the left pontoon tank of his boat into the center of Plaintiff’s boat forcefully jarring the boat and its occupants and resulting in the occupants of the boat being slammed to the deck of the boat.”  The claim further alleges that an investigation by DNR officer Wilson Norris determined that Elam was the sole contributor to the collision.  Damages are sought and a jury trial is requested.