No charges to be filled

[Wmc]

 

[4Waters]

Apparently he wasn't drunk. Any other info on the other deceased operator.

 

[CJ_Donahue]

It was an amazingly horrible ACCIDENT. Others may strongly disagree but as long as alcohol was determined not to be a factor I agree with no criminal charges. Civil liability maybe but criminal no.

 

[mjc]

here is from the paper

The Mohave County Attorney’s office is declining to file charges in a multiple fatality boating crash on the Colorado River last Labor Day weekend. Four California residents were killed when two boats were involved in a head-on collision just after 8:00 p.m. on September 1 on a stretch of the river between Pirates Cove and the Topock Marina, north of Lake Havasu.

Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said 12 people were rescued after all 16 occupants of both vessels were tossed into the water at the point of impact. The dead whose bodies were recovered included the operator of one of the boats, Brian Grabowski, 49, Tulare, and two passengers, Christine Lewis, 51, Visalia, and Kirra Drury, 24, Ventura.


The body of the fourth victim, Raegan Heitzig, 26, Ventura, has not yet been recovered despite exhaustive search efforts. The driver of the other boat, Jereme Crist, 49, Victorville, California survived his injuries.

Mortensen said Crist, with five passengers aboard, was operating a 26-foot Sleek boat that was southbound. She said Grabowski, with nine passengers aboard, was northbound in a 28 foot-Hallet boat when the collision occurred. All of the deceased were on the Hallet.


Chief Deputy Sheriff Dean McKie said deputy county attorney Megan McCoy has informed the sheriff’s office that the surviving board operator will not be prosecuted because “there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”

McKie said the investigation determined that Crist and Grabowski were both at fault for operating the boats at unsafe speeds, in a narrow stretch of the river during a time of poor lighting and visibility. He said it was determined that both operators had alcohol in their systems, but level of impairment could not be measured due to delays with toxicological analysis.

McKie said investigators determined multiple factors were at play, but that the cause of the deadly crash can’t be tied to any single one of them.

reads like both had alcohol in them.

 

[lbhsbz]

here is from the paper

The Mohave County Attorney’s office is declining to file charges in a multiple fatality boating crash on the Colorado River last Labor Day weekend. Four California residents were killed when two boats were involved in a head-on collision just after 8:00 p.m. on September 1 on a stretch of the river between Pirates Cove and the Topock Marina, north of Lake Havasu.

Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said 12 people were rescued after all 16 occupants of both vessels were tossed into the water at the point of impact. The dead whose bodies were recovered included the operator of one of the boats, Brian Grabowski, 49, Tulare, and two passengers, Christine Lewis, 51, Visalia, and Kirra Drury, 24, Ventura.


The body of the fourth victim, Raegan Heitzig, 26, Ventura, has not yet been recovered despite exhaustive search efforts. The driver of the other boat, Jereme Crist, 49, Victorville, California survived his injuries.

Mortensen said Crist, with five passengers aboard, was operating a 26-foot Sleek boat that was southbound. She said Grabowski, with nine passengers aboard, was northbound in a 28 foot-Hallet boat when the collision occurred. All of the deceased were on the Hallet.


Chief Deputy Sheriff Dean McKie said deputy county attorney Megan McCoy has informed the sheriff’s office that the surviving board operator will not be prosecuted because “there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”

McKie said the investigation determined that Crist and Grabowski were both at fault for operating the boats at unsafe speeds, in a narrow stretch of the river during a time of poor lighting and visibility. He said it was determined that both operators had alcohol in their systems, but level of impairment could not be measured due to delays with toxicological analysis.

McKie said investigators determined multiple factors were at play, but that the cause of the deadly crash can’t be tied to any single one of them.

reads like both had alcohol in them.

wow

 

[guest hs]

Who’s the girl on the picture?

 

[4Waters]

Who’s the girl on the picture?

Reagan

 

[Danger Dave]

So both drivers could've been "impaired" when the accident occurred?

 

[Singleton]

So both drivers could've been "impaired" when the accident occurred?

That’s how I am reading it.

 

[guest hs]

Reagan

Oh gotcha

 

[monkeyswrench]

It always sounded like speed was an issue with light at the time. Ad in possible impairment of both operators, and impaired judgment, and it got very ugly, very fast.

I saw the other weekend there are crosses up now. Still sad one has yet to be found.

 

[Wizard29]

"Both operators had alcohol in their systems."

You're not going to tell me that at least one of them was not "impaired".

How fucking hard is it to not drink and drive? Impossible for some to go out on the river and not be able to enjoy it without alcohol I guess. Morons like that do what they do and innocent people like Raegan pay the price for it. Idiots.

 

[boatpi]

And interesting determination but not surprising.

Some of you may remember years ago a little girl was killed as two boats collided almost head on in the same area. I handled the insurance investigation and extensive re-creation of the incident. Much better than the sheriff did.

The operator of the southbound boat was charged in my opinion inappropriately.

He was tried and was found not guilty in about two seconds.

The true cause of that collision was the northbound boat operator had their field of vision obscured by people forward of him in his own vessel causing his vision to be reduced to the point he drove his boat too far west of Center, resulting in the collision with the other vessel. Some may remember as it was all over the boards.

No one wins in these. Rip to all involved.

These are difficult to investigate and deal with. Facts cannot be disputed and are often difficult to accept.

 

[5oclocksomewhere]

"Both operators had alcohol in their systems."

You're not going to tell me that at least one of them was not "impaired".

How fucking hard is it to not drink and drive? Impossible for some to go out on the river and not be able to enjoy it without alcohol I guess. Morons like that do what they do and innocent people like Raegan pay the price for it. Idiots.

Yep agree 100% not once have I ever got behind the wheel drinking even one beer. With my class A one beer and I’m over the limit. When I want to drink we leave the boat in the garage and go to the beach for the day. Now I’m done drinking for good anyway so we’ll Be doing a lot more boating.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Yep agree 100% not once have I ever got behind the wheel drinking even one beer. With my class A one beer and I’m over the limit. When I want to drink we leave the boat in the garage and go to the beach for the day. Now I’m done drinking for good anyway so we’ll Be doing a lot more boating.

I learned a while ago, a full tank in the boat is cheaper than me getting tanked up. Even with the cost of repairs

 

[lbhsbz]

No one wins in these. Rip to all involved.
.

I've been running this through my head from both sides ever since I read the report posted above...I think it just got harder for both sides to live with. RIP to all involved, and hopefully the survivors and the families can find peace.

 

[Cdog]

Its sad how grown adults can’t accept that sometimes bad things happen at a mutual fault. I’m seeing this on FB as well. The shock and awe that there’s not an immediate blame. For some reason People need a virgin to throw down the volcano even though that won’t change the outcome.

Godspeed to all those who have been lost at the river we all love. I know I’ll keep them in my thoughts when I’m there.

 

[LHC Kirby]

I see no reason... other than unexpected things... to boat after the sun sets.....

 

[Wmc]

Both had alcohol in system. One driver went to hospital that night for injuries and I'm sure they took blood. The other driver was not found for two days so who knows when they took his blood. I can guarantee you if surviving driver was any where close to a .08 he would be charged with manslaughter. So to me his BL was extremely low. JMO

 

[outboard_256]

Both had alcohol in system. One driver went to hospital that night for injuries and I'm sure they took blood. The other driver was not found for two days so who knows when they took his blood. I can guarantee you if surviving driver was any where close to a .08 he would be charged with manslaughter. So to me his BL was extremely low. JMO

that's the issue. If they took blood at the hospital hours later its hard to determine what his blood level was at the time of the crash. If the lawyers can't prove he was at .08 at the time of the crash its hard to win a case. So to me just because his blood maybe have been lower than .08 at the hospital doesn't mean he wasn't impaired at the time of the crash, it just means the laywers can't prove it in a court of law with the evidence they have.

 

[Riverbound]

Oddly enough there’s quite a few on Facebook claiming they were there and/or are friends with, and the driver with alcohol in his system doesn’t even drink?? Seems odd to me and unfortunately we will never know the real story.

 

[BajaT]

It was an amazingly horrible ACCIDENT. Others may strongly disagree but as long as alcohol was determined not to be a factor I agree with no criminal charges. Civil liability maybe but criminal no.

It's okay to be negligent resulting in death as long as you are not intoxicated? Accidents are when every precaution is taken and yet something happens. I hate how the first question is whether someone was drunk or not. Alcohol aggravates the charge but another law likely was broken in these "accidents". It is criminal when you break the law resulting in injury or death, drunk or not. If someone crossed over a double yellow killing my family, I do not care if they are drunk or sober. They are criminally negligent. It's not just an unfortunate bad accident....In this case, if a blind curve, sun, whatever, the safe speed for conditions at that location at that time may be idling.......

 

[jailbird141]

that's the issue. If they took blood at the hospital hours later its hard to determine what his blood level was at the time of the crash. If the lawyers can't prove he was at .08 at the time of the crash its hard to win a case. So to me just because his blood maybe have been lower than .08 at the hospital doesn't mean he wasn't impaired at the time of the crash, it just means the laywers can't prove it in a court of law with the evidence they have.

Actually this is not true. Your blood alcohol content (BAC) can be determined at the time of the accident. It can also be determined if you blood alcohol level was rising or falling at the time of the accident. Meaning if you have recently drank and the impairment is getting worse or has it been a while and the impairment is fading.

 

[HB2Havasu]

that's the issue. If they took blood at the hospital hours later its hard to determine what his blood level was at the time of the crash. If the lawyers can't prove he was at .08 at the time of the crash its hard to win a case. So to me just because his blood maybe have been lower than .08 at the hospital doesn't mean he wasn't impaired at the time of the crash, it just means the laywers can't prove it in a court of law with the evidence they have.

Bingo. They aren’t going to waste tens of thousands of dollars without the guarantee of a conviction. What the DA is not saying is what the BA level of the deceased operator only that he “was” impaired. I’m guessing he was over .08 and the surviving operator was also over .08 but somebody didn’t collect blood sample in time to accurately calculate BA levels with confidence. It’s a sad deal all over!!!

 

[rivermobster]

Its sad how grown adults can’t accept that sometimes bad things happen at a mutual fault. I’m seeing this on FB as well. The shock and awe that there’s not an immediate blame. For some reason People need a virgin to throw down the volcano even though that won’t change the outcome.

Godspeed to all those who have been lost at the river we all love. I know I’ll keep them in my thoughts when I’m there.

Post of the year.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

I had a few beers with one of the paramedics that was in the MCSO boat first on scene, he described a pretty awful scene. There was debris everywhere and it was dark, they had no idea what was debris and what were bodies nor any idea on many total victims there were. They checked everything in the water, some of its was trash and boat parts, some of them were bodies in the dark.

 

[Ziggy]

And interesting determination but not surprising.

Some of you may remember years ago a little girl was killed as two boats collided almost head on in the same area. I handled the insurance investigation and extensive re-creation of the incident. Much better than the sheriff did.

The operator of the southbound boat was charged in my opinion inappropriately.

He was tried and was found not guilty in about two seconds.

The true cause of that collision was the northbound boat operator had their field of vision obscured by people forward of him in his own vessel causing his vision to be reduced to the point he drove his boat too far west of Center, resulting in the collision with the other vessel. Some may remember as it was all over the boards.

No one wins in these. Rip to all involved.

These are difficult to investigate and deal with. Facts cannot be disputed and are often difficult to accept.

Played in a charity golf tourney for her.
.
Think shortly after that accident is when they put the 5mph markers in that area.

 

[CJ_Donahue]

It's okay to be negligent resulting in death as long as you are not intoxicated? Accidents are when every precaution is taken and yet something happens. I hate how the first question is whether someone was drunk or not. Alcohol aggravates the charge but another law likely was broken in these "accidents". It is criminal when you break the law resulting in injury or death, drunk or not. If someone crossed over a double yellow killing my family, I do not care if they are drunk or sober. They are criminally negligent. It's not just an unfortunate bad accident....In this case, if a blind curve, sun, whatever, the safe speed for conditions at that location at that time may be idling.......

It's okay to be negligent resulting in death as long as you are not intoxicated? Accidents are when every precaution is taken and yet something happens. I hate how the first question is whether someone was drunk or not. Alcohol aggravates the charge but another law likely was broken in these "accidents". It is criminal when you break the law resulting in injury or death, drunk or not. If someone crossed over a double yellow killing my family, I do not care if they are drunk or sober. They are criminally negligent. It's not just an unfortunate bad accident....In this case, if a blind curve, sun, whatever, the safe speed for conditions at that location at that time may be idling.......

I understand your position. All I am saying is from what I know, which I admit is only based on news reports and RDP, it sounds like multiple mistakes added up to this tragedy. I'm just saying I don't see criminal negligence based on what I know. My comment "As long as alcohol was determined not to be a factor" was based on my belief that drinking alcohol and driving is an intentional action. If someone drinks, knowing they intend to drive, and they are impaired I believe that is criminal.

 

[Kachina26]

"Board operator" ?

 

[HCP3]

Sad to see that this news pushes the accident even further away from emotional closure. I feel for the families involved.

 

[rrrr]

The information stating both boats were on plane and operating at an unsafe speed is more important than BAC at this point.

The obvious conclusion is there if one desires to grasp it. Both drivers were incredibly negligent, and their actions proved it. Boating at night at speed and through a blind curve combined with ignoring navigation rules regarding position on the waterway turned fun into tragedy.

 

[BHC Vic]

if I were the driver I’d be doing life. With 2 DUIs I can’t have any alcohol in my system at all, even if the other person was 100% at fault.

 

[BONER]

And this incident, right here, is why having ANYTHING to drink is risky if driving a Boat.

Let's say it went the other way. Let's say he was deemed Impaired and only had a 12oz Bullet 30-45min prior. He'd be in Jail for the rest of his Life because he had "a Beer"....

Not preaching. Just sayin'. Lol

 

[Ballyhoo]

Chief Deputy Sheriff Dean McKie said deputy county attorney Megan McCoy has informed the sheriff’s office that the surviving board operator will not be prosecuted because “there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”

McKie said the investigation determined that Crist and Grabowski were both at fault for operating the boats at unsafe speeds, in a narrow stretch of the river during a time of poor lighting and visibility. He said it was determined that both operators had alcohol in their systems, but level of impairment could not be measured due to delays with toxicological analysis.

McKie said investigators determined multiple factors were at play, but that the cause of the deadly crash can’t be tied to any single one of them.

There are no good outcomes in a tragedy like this. The investigation into this accident was detailed and lengthy, no doubt. It appears that the investigation lays fault at 50/50 for the operators of each boat. I am certain that in the final analysis alcohol was listed as one of contributing factors. Based on the investigation and the evidence in hand, its clear that the filing deputy da felt that there was not enough evidence to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

If the da has that belief based on the facts, they have a moral obligation to decline filing charges. In these situations this where a civil action comes into play-possibly. Unfortunately none of the legal remedies will change what happened. We can only hope that the survivors, family and friends can find some sort of peace.

 

[BajaT]

I just don't see how two boats collide resulting in an innocent third party dying without a single law being broken by either operator. Speed, safe distance, correct side of river, unsafe turn etc. Not saying responsible party/parties have to hang at the stake, but its doesn't have to be all or nothing. Laws are in place so, if followed, this does not happen....Election time is approaching ......Hate to lose a big one prior to votes being placed......

 

[Riverbound]

I just don't see how two boats collide resulting in an innocent third party dying without a single law being broken by either operator. Speed, safe distance, correct side of river, unsafe turn etc. Not saying responsible party/parties have to hang at the stake, but its doesn't have to be all or nothing. Laws are in place so, if followed, this does not happen....

This post reminds me of years ago a boat was out testing on Parker, he hit a roller and things went bad. Everyone was up in arms because the driver was cited for no-mufflers, no reg, etc.. I guess they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

 

[BajaT]

The information stating both boats were on plane and operating at an unsafe speed is more important than BAC at this point.

The obvious conclusion is there if one desires to grasp it. Both drivers were incredibly negligent, and their actions proved it. Boating at night at speed and through a blind curve combined with ignoring navigation rules regarding position on the waterway turned fun into tragedy.

With no criminal repercussions...