Chase RCMP will recommend charges against the operator of a ski boat that crashed into the back of a houseboat on Shuswap Lake almost a year ago, killing the houseboat’s driver.
Chase RCMP commander Sgt. Troy Beauregard said Tuesday his officers have finished their investigation of the July 3, 2010, accident near Scotch Creek. Their report will be delivered to Kamloops prosecutors by the end of the week.
Beauregard confirmed the police report will recommend charges, although he would not say what those charges might be. It will be up to the Crown to decide if the evidence warrants a charge. It’s not known how long it will take for the Crown to review the file and make its decision.
Beauregard said the investigation took a great deal of time. Officers compiled accounts of the accident from more than 80 witnesses, gathered physical evidence and collected many photographs.
The team wanted to make sure the investigation was thoroughly complete before submitting a report to Crown, he said.
The accident happened around 11 p.m. Witnesses reported seeing a speedboat driving erratically at high speed in the vicinity of Scotch Creek when suddenly the boat struck the back end of the houseboat, burying itself completely in the houseboat.
Kenneth Brown, 53, was killed. Several other people on both boats were injured.
According to search warrant documents filed in Kamloops court several days after the accident, police found 27 empty beer and cooler cans in the ski boat.
Chase RCMP filed the documents in order to get a warrant to seize blood samples they believed had been taken from Leon Reinbrecht, the ski boat’s driver, by staff at Royal Inland Hospital. Blood was never taken, however, so police were unable to use blood-alcohol analysis as part of the investigation.
Regardless, investigators had other reasons to suspect the ski boat operator was impaired at the time of the crash, the court documents indicated.
One of the officers noted a strong odour of liquor on the man’s breath and asked if he had been drinking earlier in the evening.
Reinbrecht said in reply that he drank one beer after the crash – while he was trapped in the ski boat inside the houseboat – because he was thirsty, police reported as they assembled the information to obtain a warrant.
Officers also noted other things in their investigation, including the fact Reinbrecht’s boat was not operating running lights at the time of the collision. The houseboat, in comparison, was operating all of its running lights as well as interior cabin lights.
Reinbrecht also gave a statement to police. He told officers he was on the lake to watch the fireworks, and was driving his boat about 30 km/h. He said he did not see the houseboat because its lights were not on. He did not lose consciousness.
Officers told the justice of the peace who issued the warrant that they searched police databases and noted Reinbrecht has three past convictions for impaired driving.
None of the information in the documents is considered evidence.
Reinbrecht lives in Celista, B.C.
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