Insets, from left: Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dankert (Conte Funeral Home) and Lawrence Shieh (WCVB). Background: The boat Shieh is accused of operating when it crashed, killing Dankert (Boston EMS/Facebook).
A Massachusetts man is facing serious criminal charges after prosecutors say he drove a boat directly into a pier in Boston Harbor late at night, causing a crash that killed a 24-year-old woman he had met at a bar earlier that evening.
Lawrence Shieh, 40, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, operating a boat while intoxicated causing death, and two counts of operating a boat while intoxicated causing serious injury, the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office said.
The fatal crash happened on May 13 near Logan International Airport and claimed the life of Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dankert.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden told reporters that Shieh had been out with friends at a bar that night. After his group left, Hayden said, Shieh stayed behind and began talking with Dankert and two of her friends. Prosecutors allege he then tried to impress the women by offering to bring them to his boat club.
Authorities said the club permits members to use boats in the harbor, but not after dark. Shieh allegedly took a boat he did not own onto the water with the three women aboard. Prosecutors said the vessel lacked exterior lighting to help illuminate the water, and Shieh was allegedly operating it near Logan International Airport in an area where boating is prohibited.
“In the time leading up to the crash, cellphone videos recorded Shieh’s conduct, including inattentiveness at the helm, dancing, and engaging with the three young women,” Hayden said. “Approximately six seconds before the crash, Shieh is captured on video with both hands off the wheel of the boat.”
Surveillance footage showed the boat striking a Logan Airport runway approach pier head-on at about 36 mph, a speed prosecutors described as excessive. The impact threw everyone on board backward. Dankert sustained a fatal injury to the back of her head, while Shieh and the two other women suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
The defendant’s blood alcohol level was 0.20, more than twice the legal limit.
“In the end, we are here today, and Lizzie Dankert is not here today because of Lawrence Shieh’s dangerous and ultimately deadly behavior,” Hayden said. “He unlawfully took a boat out into Boston Harbor in the dead of night, he drove that boat at a reckless speed in a restricted area of the Boston Harbor. He did this with three young women aboard, placing their lives in imminent danger.”
Shieh pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $25,000 bond. His next court date is set for Oct. 8.
Dankert was an English major at Union College, where she played on the soccer team.
“Her greatest joy was found in tight and meaningful relationships, time in nature, the beach, a beautiful view and new adventures,” her obituary said. “She worked hard for the things she valued. She was a tremendous soccer player and played at the college level.”
The family’s lawyer released a statement, saying they had hoped someone would be held accountable.
“There is some measure of relief in finally learning what happened that fateful night and seeing that the wheels of justice are in motion,” the statement said. Family members “intend to focus their attention primarily on the seemingly insurmountable tasks of learning to go on without their beloved daughter and sister, Lizzie, and trying to honor the way she lived (with positivity and joy) rather than the way she died.”
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