Prominent Lake Havasu Business Owners Killed After High-Speed Boat Goes Airborne and Crashes Into Campsite
Two well-known Lake Havasu City business owners were killed after their high-performance boat struck land at high speed, launched into the air and came down inside a campsite near Cattail Cove State Park.
Charles “Chip” Romer, 65, and Jennifer Luzzi, 59, both of Lake Havasu City, died in the Saturday night crash on Lake Havasu. Romer was widely known in performance boating and motorsports, while Luzzi had built a prominent career in the area’s real estate industry.
Authorities have not yet determined what caused the vessel to leave the water and strike the peninsula. The crash remains under investigation.
Boat Found Upside Down on Land
Deputies with the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Division of Boating Safety were called to the Cattail Cove State Park area at approximately 7:08 p.m. Saturday, September 12, following reports of a boating collision.
When emergency crews arrived, they discovered a 2019, 36-foot Douglas Marine boat overturned on land on the Arizona side of Lake Havasu, just north of the state park.
Romer and Luzzi were found unresponsive near the wreckage. Deputies immediately began emergency life-saving measures, with firefighters from San Bernardino County and Lake Havasu City also responding.
Despite those efforts, both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The initial investigation indicates the boat had been traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck a large peninsula.
The impact sent the vessel airborne. Instead of immediately coming to rest, authorities said the boat continued through the air before landing in a boat-in campsite north of where it initially hit land.
Investigators later found the vessel upside down.
A separate report focused on the performance-boating community confirms the same basic sequence and says authorities have not yet established why the boat struck the peninsula.
Chip Romer Was a Familiar Name in High-Speed Racing
Charles Romer.Facebook/One Motorsports
News of Romer’s death quickly resonated within the performance-boating community, where he had spent years building a reputation as an accomplished competitor.
Romer previously held the coveted “King of the Desert” title, awarded to the fastest driver at Desert Storm’s Shugrue’s Shootout, one of Lake Havasu’s signature speed competitions.
He was also the original owner of “Dial 911,” a Skater 388 high-performance catamaran built by Douglas Marine’s Skater Powerboats in 2010.
When the boat debuted at the Desert Storm shootout, Romer and TNT Custom Marine’s John Tomlinson recorded a 157-mph run.
Romer’s connection to speed extended far beyond powerboats.
He competed nationally in sports-car racing and won the Prototype 1 class at the 2022 SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Virginia International Raceway. He also competed in the IMSA Prototype Challenge and Radical Cup North America.
Powerboat News reported that Romer later returned to the Desert Storm event in 2023, driving a Skater named Cervesa to a 195.4-mph run.
A Successful Business Career Away From Racing
Deputies from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Division of Boating Safety responded to a reported boating collision on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Cattail Cove State Park on Lake Havasu.Facebook/Mohave County Sheriff’s Office
Romer was also a prominent Arizona businessman.
He served as president of Romer Beverage Company, a family-owned Anheuser-Busch distributor headquartered in Kingman.
Founded in 1982, the company serves Mohave, La Paz and Yuma counties and operates warehouses in both Kingman and Lake Havasu City.
Friend Neville Agass remembered Romer as someone who threw himself fully into virtually everything he pursued.
Agass said their relationship began when Romer was a customer and eventually developed into a close friendship. He described him as a highly accomplished businessman and family man whose interests ranged from boating and racing to off-roading and flying.
“He was a very passionate person at whatever he took on,” Agass wrote in a tribute.
Agass said Romer seemed to have packed more experiences into one lifetime than many people could fit into several, adding that he would particularly miss their phone conversations, meetings at racetracks and time together in Lake Havasu.
Jennifer Luzzi Built a Major Presence in Lake Havasu Real Estate
Charles Romer is pictured. Romer was killed in a high-speed boat crash after the vesse
Luzzi had developed an equally strong connection to the Lake Havasu community.
She moved to the city from Huntington Beach, California, in 1995 and had lived there for roughly three decades.
During her years in Arizona, she became a well-known real estate professional and led The Jennifer Luzzi Group with Keller Williams Arizona Living Realty.
Her team was ranked sixth among small real estate teams in Arizona for units sold in 2026 by RealTrends.
Following her death, colleagues remembered Luzzi for far more than her professional success.
Chad Nelson of The A Team Real Estate Professionals described her as a “Havasu icon,” praising her as an accomplished mother, athlete, professional and friend.
“Jennifer was truly a class act and a Havasu icon,” Nelson wrote, adding that her energy, kindness and commitment to the community would not be forgotten.
Lake Havasu Community Mourns Two Familiar Faces
Jennifer Luzzi, who was killed in a high-speed boat crash after the vessel went airborne.Facebook/Jennifer Luzzi
The sudden loss of Romer and Luzzi has reverberated across the community where both had built successful careers and deep personal connections.
The Lake Havasu Association of Realtors also paid tribute to the pair.
Jennifer Luzzi was killed in a high-speed boat crash on a lake after the vessel went airborne.Facebook/Jennifer Luzzi
Association president Phil Annett described their deaths as a devastating and premature loss, writing that both had made an unforgettable impact on their families, friends and Lake Havasu City.
“They will forever live in our hearts,” he wrote.
For Romer’s friends in the racing world, the circumstances are especially striking given his long history around high-performance vehicles and boats. For Luzzi’s colleagues, the loss has taken away someone who had spent decades becoming part of the fabric of the Lake Havasu community.
The investigation, however, still has a crucial unanswered question.
Authorities have confirmed that the 36-foot boat was traveling at high speed before hitting the peninsula and becoming airborne, but they have not announced why it struck land or whether any other factors contributed to the crash.
Until investigators complete their work, the precise circumstances leading to the collision remain undetermined.