So now we know. Captain Grog was steering Greg Barkus’ speedboat when Barkus ran his boat onto the rocky shore of Wayfarers State Park, injuring all five on board, three seriously. Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan today charged Barkus with three felonies including operating a motorboat under the influence of alcohol. Reported the Flathead Beacon’s Dan Testa:
Charging documents revealed a blood test taken one hour and 45 minutes after the accident by Kalispell Regional Medical Center showed Barkus had a BAC of 0.16, twice the legal limit. Four hours after the accident, a test administered by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks revealed Barkus’ BAC at 0.12.
Barkus’ attorney, Todd Glazier, issued a statement disputing the BAC numbers. According to the Missoulian’s Michael Jamison:
Prosecutors say Barkus’ blood-alcohol content registered twice the legal limit, at 0.16, when sampled nearly two hours after the crash - a finding that Barkus’ attorney vehemently disputed Wednesday.
“We adamantly disagree with those alleged levels set forth in the charging document,” attorney Todd Glazier said in a statement. “We have several witnesses that will testify that Mr. Barkus was not impaired at the time of the accident.”
Will Dennis Rehberg be one of those witnesses? And did any of those witnesses obtain a BAC that would be admissible in court? Glazier is obviously a crackerjack DUI attorney, but he has his work cut out for him. As an attorney in a previous age remarked, “facts are stubborn things.”
But even if the BAC evidence is challenged successfully, Barkus remains in a heap of trouble. He appears to have been a reckless navigator. Consider these paragraphs from Testa’s story:
The group left the restaurant at around 10 p.m. on Barkus’ boat, which “was not equipped with a spotlight or other lighting to illuminate its path,” according to the document. As a result, Barkus was navigating with a GPS device and appeared to be confused about the direction the boat was heading, according to Smith, one of the witnesses listed in the affidavit, who recalled Barkus saying, “I think I’m turned around,” believing they were heading toward the mouth of the Flathead River, rather than Bigfork, to the east.
Barkus then made a “big” course correction to the right, according to the affidavit. Smith said she believed the boat was traveling at 40 miles per hour, and though the speedometer appeared to be broken, told investigators she recalled the engine being run at 4,000 rpm. Jesco Boat Center confirmed for investigators that Barkus’ boat, with five passengers, could have been going as fast as 45 miles per hour at 4,000 rpm.
Smith said “we were definitely heading, like, full speed straight forward” when she first realized the boat was about to hit the steep, rocky shoreline near Wayfarer’s State Park, just south of Bigfork, according to the affidavit. Her recollection was backed up by a nearby camper who remembered hearing a boat traveling fast just before the collision.
No searchlight. A broken speedometer (Update: a functional GPS will provide speed and direction). And when Barkus became confused over his boat’s heading, did he chop the throttle and bring his vessel to a stop until he could verify his position and the correct heading to his destination? No. He reportedly made a big course correction to the right while the boat was roaring along at 40 mph — a course correction that took him right onto the rocks. That’s a courts martial offense in any nation’s navy.
He’s between a rock and hard time.