Teens on personal watercraft slam into boat on Colorado River, killing Ontario man

July 7, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. — Authorities say an Ontario man was killed when two teenagers operating a rented personal watercraft crashed into the victim as he sat on the back swim deck of a boat over the Independence Day weekend. The deadly accident happened while the victim was visiting the Colorado River with his family.

The tremendous force of the July 4th crash knocked the victim’s baby and mother-in-law into the water, but neither were seriously injured, Bullhead City Police Department said in a statement yesterday. Although the teens left the scene of the fatal crash, they were quickly located and detained by Water Rescue Safety lifeguards and boating safety officers.

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Bullhead City emergency personnel responded to a watercraft accident on the Colorado River that occurred in the 1400 block of Riverfront Drive at around 1:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a major-injury collision involving a boat and jet-ski.

The victim, Timothy Randall David Lee, 33, of Ontario, was rushed first to Western Arizona Regional Medical Center and was then airlifted to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, NV, where he later succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

Although the two teenage boys who had been operating the rented jet-ski initially left the scene of the deadly crash, boating safety officers and other officials quickly tracked them down and located them.

During their subsequent investigation, officers learned Lee had been sitting on the back of a boat’s swim deck when the jet-ski crashed into the back of the boat and into him. Although the collision jettisoned Lee’s baby and mother-in-law into the water, both were able to get back into the boat and were uninjured, the department said.

“The 16-year-old operator from Avondale, AZ was cited for failure to use due caution to avoid a collision and rental contract violation,” officials reported.

While not specifying if the teen faced charges related to leaving the scene of the accident, officials said, “A report will be forwarded to the Mohave County Attorney’s Office for review of additional charges.”

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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.