Local Sheriff's Deputy Killed in Boating Accident

The Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department is grieving the loss of one of their own, who was killed in the line of duty Saturday.

Deputy Dean Ridings was on Marine Patrol Saturday when his boat was involved in an accident. Police said Ridings was in a 19-foot boat operated by a fellow deputy at about 12:40 p.m. Saturday. According to witnesses, it appeared that the driver lost control, and the boat flipped several times.

"It’s like hit something out in the water and when the wind caught it, he did a 360 and the boat just flipped," witness Lorie Watson told News4.

Deputy William Schroeder was thrown into the water. Other boaters in the area rushed to Schroeder's aid, but when they climbed on board the police boat, they realized that Ridings had been seriously hurt. He later died at the hospital.

Authorities called it a freak accident. They said the boat hit another boat's wake.

Ridings was 52-years-old and had been with the department for six years. His two sons also are sheriff's deputies.

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