“I WAS JUST DRIVING THE BOAT”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, POLICE SAY 40-YEAR-OLD KEVIN WELLS CRASHED A 32-FOOT MOTORBOAT INTO A CHANNEL MARKER WHILE BOATING INTOXICATED NEAR TOMS RIVER, KILLING A PASSENGER AND INJURING THREE OTHERS… AND HE HAS NOW BEEN CHARGED WITH RECKLESS VESSEL HOMICIDE.
An alleged drunken boater has been charged with homicide following a fatal collision along the Jersey Shore.
The incident represents the third deadly boat wreck of its kind in the region this summer.
Kevin Wells, 40, was arrested on Friday, over a month after the fatal wreck occurred, NJ.com reported.
On July 25, Wells was operating a 32-foot Boston Whaler in waters near Toms River.
Wells was allegedly boating while intoxicated at the time.
Around 10:45 a.m., the motorboat struck a channel marker.
The impact resulted in the death of one passenger and injuries to three others.
The crash killed Michael T. Bereheiko, a 26-year-old construction worker from Green Brook.
Two 27-year-old men suffered serious injuries in the collision, according to police.
A 24-year-old woman was also scraped up in the wreck, police said.
Authorities reported that after the crash, Wells rushed the vessel to a nearby residence in Toms River.
Then first responders rushed the victims from the home to nearby hospitals.
Bereheiko was pronounced dead soon after.
Family members remembered Bereheiko as a star high school football player.
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He was also remembered as someone who loved “spending time at the Jersey Shore, where he could relax, laugh, and enjoy the company of those closest to him,” according to an obituary.
And on Friday, authorities placed Wells under arrest.
Wells was charged with reckless vessel homicide, according to court records.
Court records show he was also charged with two counts of assault by vessel while intoxicated or refusing a blood alcohol test.
Wells could not be reached for comment.
It was unclear who was representing him as his lawyer.
Wells is expected to appear in Ocean County Court for a hearing, records show.
But the incident follows a pattern of fatal watercraft incidents in the area over recent months.
Wells is the latest boater to be charged with homicide in a series of deadly crashes involving intoxicated operators along the Jersey Shore this summer.
On Memorial Day, Jennifer Pearson, 59, was involved in an allegedly intoxicated boating crash.
Pearson was charged in connection with the death of her 28-year-old son, Gunnar Pearson.
On July 19, another deadly collision took place on Barnegat Bay.
Stephen Schneider, 64, was charged after his two grandchildren died in the crash while he was allegedly driving drunk, police said.
Like Wells, both Pearson and Schneider struck channel markers during their voyages.
The impact in each crash killed their loved ones.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
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