Three boys airlifted after July 4 collision on Lake Bonham; operator arrested

_A GvilleTX Newsroom report_

Three boys were flown to two area hospitals and a boat operator was arrested on three counts of intoxication assault after a collision on Lake Bonham near Bonham on July 4, according to a report from the television station KXII. Texas Game Wardens were investigating the crash, the station reported from Bonham.

The injured were boys ages 7, 12 and 13, all airlifted from the lake, KXII reported. Wardens arrested the operator on three intoxication-assault counts, according to the station. The report described an arrest and an accusation, not a conviction, and the verified records reviewed for this story did not name the operator.

Texas Penal Code Section 49.07 defines intoxication assault to include operating a watercraft while intoxicated when that operation causes serious bodily injury to another person. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department lists boating-while-intoxicated intoxication assault as its own entry in its water-safety violation table and cites that section of the law.

The City of Bonham operates Lake Bonham facilities. The state parks department lists two public boat ramps at the lake and requires a boat permit to launch there. Under the city's rules for the Lake Bonham Recreation Area, every boat, personal watercraft and other craft using those facilities must carry a valid City of Bonham permit.

The collision fell one day after Bonham's official Independence Day event at the lake. The city calendar listed the 49th annual Lights Over Lake Bonham Fireworks Show for July 3, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Lake Bonham Recreation Area, a day before the crash.

Before the holiday weekend, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department released statewide boating-safety figures. In a statement dated July 3, the department said its game wardens had responded in 2026 to 88 water-related incidents, a total that included 31 injury cases requiring more than first aid. Wardens had also filed 68 cases tied to boating while intoxicated, one of them a BWI-assault arrest, the department said. That statement predated the July 4 collision, and the verified records did not indicate whether the Lake Bonham arrest was counted in those totals.

Elsewhere in the region, the Choctaw Nation held its Boom in the Valley event on July 3 and used at least 400 drones for its nighttime show, according to the event's listing.

The verified records reviewed here did not include the hospitals' names, a charging document, court dates, a description of the boat or an update on the boys' conditions after they were airlifted.