Legal proceedings follow separate boating accidents involving intoxication

Two separate boating incidents involving intoxication have resulted in legal proceedings in the United States.

In Boston, Lawrence Shieh has been indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury following a fatal crash in May. Shieh faces charges including involuntary manslaughter, operating a boat while intoxicated causing death, and two counts of operating a boat while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury. Prosecutors allege that Shieh, whose blood-alcohol level was 0.20, crashed a vessel into a Logan Airport runway approach pier. The accident killed 24-year-old Elizabeth Dankert and seriously injured two other women. Video evidence reportedly showed Shieh being inattentive at the helm and having both hands off the wheel shortly before the collision.

In Rhode Island, former state senator Dawson Hodgson pleaded no contest to reckless operation following a marine accident in Jamestown. Police reported that Hodgson’s 20-foot vessel struck an unoccupied, moored boat, causing a passenger to be ejected. Hodgson, who showed signs of intoxication and refused sobriety tests, was ordered to pay $4,400 in restitution. A judge imposed a one-year filing, which may lead to the expungement of the charge if he remains law-abiding through next August.