Boat operator arrested in connection with fatal crash on Lake George
DON LEHMAN dlehman@poststar.com
QUEENSBURY, NY — Alexander M. West, the Lake George man who police said was piloting the boat that struck another boat on Monday night on Lake George, killing an 8-year-old girl and injuring her mother, was arrested Friday morning in connection with the crash.
West, 24, of Lockhart Mountain Road, Lake George, was brought by investigators to the Warren County Sheriff's Office in Queensbury for arrest processing. He was charged with at least one felony count of leaving the scene of a boating accident, but the investigation into the case is ongoing and additional charges are possible.
Four passengers in the boat were also charged Friday with misdemeanor counts of making a false statement and three of them with misdemeanor hindering prosecution, police said.
All five are expected to be arraigned in Lake George Town Court later Friday, Warren County Sheriff Bud York said. Relatives of Charlote McCue, the girl who died in the crash, were in court for the arraignment.
The boat passengers were identified as Matthew Marry, Christine Tiger, Cara M. Canale and Morland Keyes. Canale lives in Albany, and Keyes in Glens Falls, while Marry and Tiger live in Gansevoort, police said.
West will be represented by Albany-area defense lawyer Steve Coffey.
West's father, Martin West, was waiting in the Sheriff's Office lobby for his son shortly after his arrest, and asked if he wanted to discuss the situation, said "It's unfortunate. The guy broke Navigation Law. It will all come out."
Asked if he meant his son or the other driver, Martin West nodded his head at mention of the other driver.
McCue of Carlsbad, California, died in the accident, and her mother was hurt. They were passengers on a boat being driven by a relative, which police said was hit by one driven by Alexander West around 9:24 p.m. Monday.
West's 21-foot powerboat boat was headed south and the 28-foot boat the McCues were on west when they collided, the West boat hitting the other boat from the side at a slight angle, police said.
Police said West's boat fled the scene and was abandoned minutes later at a motel on the lake, and the five occupants fled. A blood sample was taken from West the next morning to be tested for possible alcohol or drug content, but sheriff's officers had not received the results as of Friday afternoon.
Investigators believe West and his passengers had spent at least part of Monday at an annual lakeside party known as Log Bay Day, on the east side of the lake in Bolton.
Seven people were on the Gar Wood wooden boat that the McCues were on, and the girl and her mother were the only ones who were hurt.
Additional details about the crash and its aftermath were released Friday afternoon.
A surveillance camera from a lakeside home near the crash scene captured video of at least part of the collision.
"The video solves a lot of issues," Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan told defense lawyers in court Friday.
Authorities said West's boat stalled near the McCue boat after the collision, and the occupants were aware that their craft had hit another boat and conspired about what to say about the incident after they left the scene.
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