Man Thrown Overboard Dies After Getting Caught In Boat’s Propellers

DUNEDIN, FL — A fisherman was killed in a Wednesday morning boating accident off the northern Pinellas County coast, according to multiple reports.

Charles Barnes, 66, of Tarpon Springs was run over by his boat about two hours north of the Dunedin Causeway in the Intercoastal Waterway, WTSP reported.

The victim was fishing with another man, the boat’s driver, 66-year-old William Coughenour, on a 17-foot Key West boat near Three Rooker Island at the time of the accident, according to WFLA.

When Coughenour took his hands off the steering wheel to adjust his fishing pole, the vessel “pulled a hard right,” reports said.

The motion threw both Barnes and Coughenour overboard, the Tampa Free Press said.

While Coughenour was able to swim back to the boat, Barnes’ arm got caught in the propellers, which pulled him underwater, reports said.

Coughenour and other boaters he flagged down were unable to free Barnes, who was pronounced dead at the scene.