More than 130 cans and bottles of alcohol were discovered aboard a motorboat involved in a deadly crash in a New Jersey bay last month, according to newly revealed court records. The wreck left one passenger dead and three others injured.
Kevin Wells, 40, was arrested Friday and charged with reckless vessel homicide and two counts of assault by vessel while intoxicated or refusing a blood alcohol test. Authorities say Wells was operating his 32-foot Boston Whaler on July 25 when it slammed into a channel marker in Barnegat Bay.
Court documents obtained by NJ.com state that Wells had been drinking alcohol “throughout the day” and appeared to have watery, bloodshot eyes when police encountered him after the crash. The collision killed 26-year-old passenger Michael T. Bereheiko.
New Jersey State Police investigators later searched the boat under a court order on Aug. 4 and found 131 alcohol containers on board, an investigating detective wrote in an affidavit. Some had been opened, while others remained unopened in a cooler and other parts of the vessel.
Among the items recovered were numerous unopened cans of Sun Cruiser and Super Lyte vodka-based mixed drinks, an unopened 30-pack of Michelob Ultra beer and two bottles of Tito’s vodka, authorities said.
Wells acknowledged drinking during the boating trip and later registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.12%, the Asbury Park Press reported.
In New Jersey, the legal blood-alcohol limit for operating a motor vehicle is 0.08%.
Before the fatal Barnegat Bay boating crash, the group had arrived around 8:20 p.m. at B2 Bistro + Bar, a waterfront restaurant in Bayville, Berkeley Township, where they spent about two hours dining.
Wells consumed four alcoholic beverages while at the bistro, the affidavit alleges, citing security camera footage from the business.
The group departed the restaurant at 10:15 p.m. and headed towards Silver Lagoon Drive in Toms River.
The boat, with Wells behind the wheel, then struck a channel marker near the Tunney-Mathis Route 37 bridges around 10:40 p.m.
Wells rushed the boat to a nearby residence in Toms River and the victims were transported to local hospitals for treatment.
Bereheiko, a construction worker, died shortly after.
Two 27-year-old men were seriously injured and a 24-year-old woman was scraped up.
Meanwhile, Wells was detained by a state trooper after he failed a series of field sobriety tests.
Police received Wells’ blood test results on Aug. 25 and charged him three days later.
Wells appeared in Superior Court of Ocean County Tuesday morning, where a judge ordered his release from custody.
“After evaluating Mr. Wells and considering his military service, his family support, and his ties to the community, the Court determined that he is eligible for release and will appear in court as required to address these charges,” his lawyer, Tara Breslow-Testa, told NJ.com.
The conditions of Wells’ release outlined that he must not operate a vessel, drink alcohol or contact the victims, the publication reported, citing the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The crash on July 25 was the third fatal boat crash along the Jersey Shore this summer involving a collision with a channel marker allegedly caused by intoxicated boaters.
Jennifer Pearson, 59, was charged with the death of her son Gunnar Pearson, 28, after an allegedly intoxicated boating crash on Memorial Day.
Stephen Schneider, 64, was also charged after his two grandchildren died in a boating crash on Barnegat Bay while he was allegedly driving drunk on July 19, police said.
