Three injured after air boat crash on Beaver Dam River

On Thursday, May 4 at 11:08 PM, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office responded to air boat crash on the flooded portion of the Beaver Dam River, North of the Ranch Road boat launch in the Township of Shields.

Preliminary investigation shows that 23-year-old Waukesha man Erik Joost was operating a 2006 air boat when it hit a tree. Three of the four people in the boat were ejected. Erik sustained minor injuries. 24-year-old Hales Corners man Zachary Azmani and 27-year-old West Allis man Ian Wolfe sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries. The fourth passenger, 24-year-old Waukesha man Robert Krueger, was uninjured in the crash.

All of the occupants were able to get back into the boat and drive it to the boat launch where first responders met them and began treatment.

Azmani was transported by Watertown Paramedics to Aurora Summit Hospital in Oconomowoc. Wolfe was transported by Waterloo EMS to Aurora Summit Hospital.

Speed and low visibility appear to be factors in the crash.

The crash remains under investigation by the Dodge County Recreation Patrol and the Wisconsin DNR.