Contact: Sgt. Gregory Rhodes, Division of Fish & Wildlife Enforcement, 302-542-6102, or Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902 

Millsboro men plead guilty to charges
in personal watercraft accident fatality

DOVER (June 9, 2011) – A Millsboro man and his father pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges brought against them after a personal watercraft accident May 29 on Rehoboth Bay that claimed the life of a Millsboro woman who was also operating a jet-ski.

Min L. McManus, 31, died when her Sea-Doo watercraft was struck by another Sea-Doo operated by Brandon C. Bennett, 20. Mr. Bennett pled guilty in Justice of the Peace Court 3 in Georgetown to assault in the second degree with a vessel and to negligent operations, both misdemeanors. His father, James Bennett, 41, also of Millsboro and of the same address as Ms. McManus, pled guilty to negligent operations.

Ms. McManus’ death was Delaware’s first boating fatality of 2011. There were two reported accident-related deaths on Delaware waters in 2010, again ranking the state among the safest in the country for boating.

Vol. 41, No. 223