In Sep. 4-10 issue
By Derek Aaron
Times Journal Reporter

JAMESTOWN - Labor Day weekend was a deadly one on Lake Cumberland as a Lexington man was killed and his passenger seriously injured after midnight Sunday when the boat he was traveling in struck an island on the west end of the main lake at a high speed and flipped, pinning him underneath, according to Russell County Coroner Larry Skaggs.

William Todd Jackson, 44, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:50 a.m. by Skaggs and the injured woman, Jennifer Haag, 42, also of Lexington was taken to Russell County Hospital by EMS and later transferred to Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington.

According to Skaggs, Jackson and Haag were in a 36' Baja boat, traveling near the mouth of Beaver Creek, when they ran aground Cemetery Island.

“The island there projects out into the lake and he apparently didn't see it,” Skaggs said.

As the boat flipped, Haag was violently thrown to the shoreline while Jackson was pinned underneath, according to Skaggs.

Members of the Jamestown Volunteer Fire Department assisted at the wreck site, using air bags to lift the boat so that Jackson's body could be removed from under it.

Officers Wayne Glover and Jim Delk with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources also worked the accident, according to Skaggs. A team from Marine Assist spent much of Sunday recovering the vessel.

Skaggs said he understood that Haag had undergone extensive surgery at Saint Joseph for injuries sustained in the wreck. Haag had a fractured neck, broken arm and a severe back injury, he said.

Haag is employed at Saint Joseph at a CT Tech, according to Skaggs.
Officials believe alcohol is believed to have been a factor in that fatal wreck and are awaiting toxicology reports.

Skaggs said it could take at least 30 days to receive the reports.