Spirit Lake, IA (KWWL TV Cedar Rapids) — In a story from Cedar Rapids TV Station KWWL – the family of a Cedar Rapids man who drowned on West Lake Okoboji in Millers Bay last year has filed a lawsuit against Okoboji Boat Works.

21-year-old Alexander Glover drowned on May 20th, 2023 after jumping into the lake off a boat. The boat started to drift away, while Glover was still in the water. The boat could not be started due to an electrical malfunction, and instead of replacing the battery, a portable power source was used by an employee to start the engine.

Family members of Glover asked the employee what would happen if the boat would not start again while on the lake, and the employee just left the power source with them with no verbal or written instructions on how to use it.

When Glover began to struggle in the water and the boat’s engine needed to be restarted in order to rescue him, but the battery or power source would not start the engine. Those on the boat tried to rescue him by throwing a rope out to pull him back. That being unsuccessful, three people jumped into the water to attempt to rescue Glover. By the time Glover was retrieved from the water and brought back onto the boat, he had died from drowning.

The lawsuit states that the throwable personal flotation devices were not properly placed in a locker and were not immediately available. The suit also states that the company failed to comply with Federal and Iowa statutes, rules, regulations and industry safety standards.