The Maryland Natural Resource Police (NRP) responded to the scene of a fatal boating incident at 8:45am on 9-9-12, approximately one mile south of Sheridan Point in the Patuxent River. Lewis Jack Sprouse, 29, of Harwood, Md. was fishing a trotline for crabs when his foot got tangled in the line and he was pulled overboard, striking the boats propeller.
After Sprouse was pulled into the water, witnesses said they saw the boat going in circles then coming to a stop after his body struck the propeller, stalling the engine. Sprouse was the driver of the boat, a 17-foot Mako. His body was recovered by Charles County dive team.
NRP was assisted by the dive team and members of the Benedict Volunteer Fire Department. The victim’s body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy
