A boat operator was arrested for driving under the influence after driving onto shore and crashing into a guardrail, injuring two occupants, along the Fox River near McHenry.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and McHenry Township Fire Protection District responded around 8:45 p.m. Monday to the area of the Snuggery River Roadhouse, 801 North River Road in unincorporated McHenry, for a boat crash.
The Illinois Conservation Police were also notified and responded to the scene.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director of Communications Jayette Bolinski said officers learned a pontoon boat was traveling along the Fox River.
The boat missed a sharp turn in the river and drove onto the shoreline and struck a guardrail.
Four people — two men and two women — were on the boat, Bolinski said.
At least two of the occupants were transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry for their injuries.
The extent of their injuries was not released.
Bolinski said the boat operator was identified as Dagoberto Villarreal-Galvan, 49, of Wadsworth.
Villarreal-Galvan was arrested by conservation police and charged with operation of a watercraft under the influence of alcohol and careless operation of a watercraft.
A surveillance video shared with Lake and McHenry County Scanner by a resident showed the boat traveling northbound on the Fox River moments before the crash.
The video’s audio caught the loud crash after the boat drove onto the shoreline and hit the guardrail.