Charges filed against runaway boat operator

Criminal charges have been filed against a 20-year-old Fort Wayne woman over an incident involving a runaway boat that injured multiple people on Lake Gage.

Dominique Effinger has been charged with several counts of operating a motorboat while intoxicated, plus underage drinking, according to the Steuben County Prosecutor’s Office. Effinger was allegedly driving the boat at a high rate of speed when she and several other passengers were ejected from the boat, which continued circling the lake, causing injuries and property damage.

One of her passengers suffered a fractured skull. Prosecutor Jeremy Musser says even more charges are possible.