Pittsburgh Post Gazette
28 September 2006
By Torsten Ove
The operator of a boat that smashed into the Montgomery Lock and Dam on Sunday night had a blood-alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit for boating, according to preliminary blood test results.
Beaver County Deputy Coroner Bill Pasquale said the full toxicology reports on Martin DeSantis, 41, of Aliquippa, won't be available for weeks or maybe months.
But based on preliminary results, he said, Mr. DeSantis was drunk when he drove his 26-foot pleasure boat at full speed into one of the water control gates, killing himself and his brother-in-law, James Raab, 48, of Aliquippa, and injuring a second passenger, Chad Marshall, 19.
"We do what we call a quick draw to get an idea of where we're at," he said. "It probably won't change very much."
The legal blood-alcohol level for operating a boat in Pennsylvania is 0.10 percent.
Even if the final results are off a few points either way, Mr. Pasquale said, the report will almost certainly indicate that Mr. DeSantis was highly intoxicated when he drove the boat into the dam at about 9:30 p.m. Mr. Marshall and fishermen on shore said the boat was going full speed when it hit the No. 4 gate and became lodged on the metal wall that extends several feet above the water line. The gate is one of 10 that control water flow on the Ohio River.
Autopsy results showed Mr. DeSantis died of a cervical spine fracture and Mr. Raab died of a dislocated neck. Their bodies were found in the cuddy cabin, hurled there by the impact of the crash. Mr. Marshall, who said he was on the back bench, was thrown to the deck and suffered bruises. He was treated at The Medical Center of Beaver County and released.
Rescue crews found empty beer cans and an open whiskey bottle in the boat in addition to beer cans floating in the water. Mr. Marshall told investigators he was not drinking, but that the two adults were drinking beer and shots of whiskey on the boat.
Although Mr. DeSantis was reportedly an experienced boater who knew the area, Mr. Marshall said the men thought they were passing under a bridge. They didn't realize where they were in the dark until it was too late to turn.
Mr. Marshall and his mother, Sandy, also told investigators from the coroner's office and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission that the men were drinking all day. They started drinking during the Steelers game at Mr. Raab's house in Aliquippa, then decided around 6 p.m. to take the boat out from its slip on the Beaver River in Bridgewater.
Legislation is pending to reduce the blood-alcohol level to 0.08, the same as it is for driving a car in the state.
Boaters know to give a wide berth to the dams, the most imposing structures on the water. The dams are massive, lit up at night and announced well in advance by danger signs and buoys.
Although some people in the boating community and some friends of the DeSantis family have suggested that Mr. DeSantis may not have been driving the boat, as Mr. Marshall indicated, the position of the bodies and other evidence indicates he was behind the wheel.
Mr. Pasquale said both he and a fish commission agent have interviewed Mr. Marshall and heard statements he gave to the news media and his story has remained consistent.
"We find his statements to be credible," he said.
Had Mr. Marshall been driving the boat, he said, he would have been killed or badly injured instead of receiving a few bruises and cuts. Still, Mr. Pasquale said he will probably interview Mr. Marshall again.
The boat, named Midnight Cruise, has been removed from the gate, where it was impaled, and has been impounded by the fish commission.
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(Torsten Ove can be reached at tove@post-gazette.com or
412-231-0132. )