Boater arrested after friend falls overboard and dies in northern Minnesota

(FOX 9) - Deputies have arrested a Maplewood man after a boating accident in northern Minnesota left one of his friends dead.

The Aitkin County Sheriff's Office responded around 11:40 p.m. on Friday for the report of a man overboard in Big Sandy Lake near the Hillcrest Resort in Shamrock Township, Minnesota.

Deputies learned a group of men had been on a pontoon boat when one of the men, identified as 34-year-old Nathen Norman Waldo of North Branch, fell off the front of the boat and was swept under. As the boat continued forward, witnesses believe Waldo was struck by the motor of the boat, deputies said.

Search crews worked to search the area, but Waldo's body wasn't recovered until Saturday afternoon.

The driver of the boat was arrested on a boating while intoxicated charge and could face more charges. He is being held in Aitkin County Jail ahead of his first court appearance.