A man accused of operating a boat while drunk has been charged with homicide after his motorboat slammed into a New Jersey channel marker, killing a 26-year-old passenger in what authorities say is the third fatal boating crash along the Jersey Shore this summer.
Kevin Wells, 40, was arrested Friday and charged with vessel homicide more than a month after he allegedly crashed a 32-foot Boston Whaler into the marker near Toms River while boating under the influence, NJ.com reported.
The July 25 wreck killed Michael T. Bereheiko, a 26-year-old construction worker from Green Brook, and left two 27-year-old men seriously injured, police said. A 24-year-old woman also suffered scrapes in the crash.
After the impact, authorities said, Wells drove the damaged boat to a nearby home in Toms River, where emergency responders met the victims and rushed them to area hospitals.
Bereheiko was pronounced dead a short time later.
In an obituary, relatives described Bereheiko as a standout high school football player who loved “spending time at the Jersey Shore, where he could relax, laugh, and enjoy the company of those closest to him.”
Court records show Wells was arrested Friday on charges of reckless vessel homicide and two counts of assault by vessel while intoxicated or refusing a blood alcohol test.
Wells could not be reached for comment, and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney. Records indicate he is expected to appear for a hearing in Ocean County Court.
The 40-year-old is the latest to be charged with homicide in a series of deadly but preventable crashes involving intoxicated boaters along the Jersey Shore this summer.
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.
Like Wells, both Pearson and Schneider struck channel markers with the impact killing their loved ones.
