Bachelor Party Guests Rescued From Lake After Drinking, Sheriff Says

LAKE COUNTY, IL — Three people who had been attending a bachelor party on a boat were rescued from the water by sheriff’s deputies over the weekend on Petite Lake in an unincorporated area near Lake Villa, authorities said.

The deputies were on patrol using personal watercraft shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday when the operator of a rental boat carrying a bachelor party flagged them down and explained he was an inexperienced boater and was looking for three friends who were missing in the water, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

The deputies found the trio, who had been drinking, about 300 feet from the rental boat, authorities said, adding the three party-goers were showing signs of distress and struggling to stay afloat. The deputies instructed them to grab a rescue bar on the personal watercraft and the three were safely returned to the rental boat, according to the sheriff’s office.

“We have worked hard over the years to build and strengthen our Marine Unit, and this is exactly why,” Sheriff John Idleburg said in a social media post. "Three young adults who had been drinking and were not wearing life jackets could have lost their lives.”

The operator of the rental boat was not under the influence, according to the sheriff’s office.