Reda, along with 35-year-old Brent Stephens and Shelly Powell, were returning from dinner at a lakeside dinner when their boat struck a pylon in the water. Stephens, also an officer, was thrown overboard, His body was found in the water the following afternoon.
Although Stephens fell off the boat around 9 p.m., records evidently show that Reda waited about almost two hours before reporting the incident. Reda and Powell also removed beer bottles from the boat before he took Powell back to shore, reports say.
Additionally, Reda told police that Stephens had jumped off the boat, and that the two men were the only ones on board. When questioned, Powell first denied she was on the boat but later changed her story, reports say.
Both Reda and Powell were both charged with making false statements and obstruction and were later released from the Cherokee County jail on $11,180 bond. Reda was subsequently suspended from his job on the police force, reports say. He could be sentenced to up to 24 years in prison.
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