PEÑASQUITOS BOY, 8, KILLED IN BOATING COLLISION DURING PARADE OF LIGHTS

December 21, 2009 (San Diego) – Eight-year-old Anthony Cole DeWeese of Rancho Penasquitos was killed last night when a Coast Guard vessel struck the ship on which he was a passenger during the Parade of Lights on San Diego Bay.

Emergency responders transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounce dead of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the San Diego County Coroner.
 

The Coast Guard has offered no explanation for the crash, which injured five others aboard the vessel. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the boy’s father told a reporter that the Coast Guard vessel was traveling at 35-45 mph, while his own boat was traveling at 3 mph or less. The family was watching the Parade of Lights from aboard the vessel when it was struck by the Coast Guard boat.
 

A federal investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash, the L.A. Times reported.