A boating accident at Clear Lake in Buchanan Township July 3 injured an Illinois teen whose personal watercraft struck a moored pontoon.

Lt. Martin Kurtz of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department Marine Division reported that at 5:40 p.m. Wednesday dispatch received a 911 call about a person on a PWC colliding with a moored vessel.

When deputies arrived, the injured operator, Robert Harrington, 18, of Glencoe, Ill., had been transported to Lakeland Community Hospital in Niles where he was treated for scrapes and bruises and released.

Kurtz said Harrington was cited for reckless operation and for not having a boater’s safety certificate.

In addition, marine deputies ticketed Michael Braasch of Glenview, Ill., for allowing Harrington to operate the PWC without a boater’s safety certificate.

The Marine Division stressed the importance of obtaining a boater’s safety certificate prior to operating on the water.