Last year's "American Idol" runner-up, Justin Guarini, allegedly nearly ran over a 5-year-old girl with his Jet Ski at a recreation spot in Texas this past weekend, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Guarini, 24, was ticketed by police after witnesses said he barely missed hitting the young girl, named Alison Heizer, said the newspaper.
The incident allegedly occurred Saturday at Joe Pool Lake in Cedar Hill, Texas, where Guarini and his "From Justin to Kelly" costar, "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson, 20, were reportedly playing with five other friends.
Sgt. Chris Chopin, a lake patrol supervisor, said Guarini and Clarkson "didn't understand what the laws were." Publicists representing the two singers could not be reached for comment Tuesday by the Associated Press.
But Alison's father, Clint Heizer, a city marshal in North Richland Hills, told the Telegram: "I was in Justin's face talking to him about what he had just done, and that's when I realized who he was."
Heizer added that Guarini rolled off the moving watercraft before it stopped and ran away laughing.
The New York Post quotes Heizer as using some expletives to describe Guarini's behavior, although Heizer reportedly said Guarini was "a bit apologetic."
He described Clarkson – a Texan – as confrontational, however, and said he is "very disappointed" in both TV personalities.
If convicted of unsafe boat operation, Guarini faces a fine of up to $2,000 and a maximum 180 days in jail, says the AP, basing the penalty on a posting that appears on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Web site.
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