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Sen. Barkus Charged With 3 Felonies for Boat Crash That Injured Rehberg, Staffers
By Dan Testa, Flathead Beacon, 10-07-09
Flathead Beacon photo.
Three felony charges were filed against Kalispell state Sen. Greg Barkus Wednesday after his alleged driving of a boat under the influence of alcohol led to an Aug. 27 crash on the shore of Flathead Lake that injured him, his wife, Congressman Denny Rehberg and two of his staff members.
Charging documents revealed a blood test taken one hour and 45 minutes after the accident by Kalispell Regional Medical Center showed Barkus had a blood alcohol content (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.
Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan charged Barkus with felony criminal endangerment for knowingly engaging in “conduct that created a substantial risk to of death or serious bodily injury to others,” referring to the passengers on the boat. The charge carries a maximum term in state prison of 10 years and/or a maximum fine of $50,000.
Barkus is also charged with two counts of felony negligent vehicular assault for operating a motorboat under the influence of alcohol and causing “serious bodily harm” to two of the passengers: Rehberg and his staffer, Dustin Frost, who suffered a severe brain injury in the crash. Each count is punishable with a maximum term of 10 years, and/or a maximum fine of $10,000.
A warrant was also issued for Barkus’ arrest.
The charging documents recount the circumstances of the night leading up to the crash, much of which reinforces what has been reported in the six weeks following the accident: Following a dinner and reception at The Docks restaurant in Lakeside, Barkus, his wife Kathy, Rehberg and his staff member Kristin Smith and State Director Frost traveled from the west shore of Flathead Lake heading for the Marina Cay resort in Bigfork, where the Republican congressman and his staff were staying that night.
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.
From scrape marks and debris patterns, investigators believe the boat was heading north when it struck the shoreline at a 30-degree angle, went airborne, and then crashed into the rocks and cliff, coming to rest.
According to Barkus’ dinner tab and a waitress interviewed, he had two drinks of Dewars scotch. The affidavit quoted Smith recalling that Barkus drank wine also: “And so I remember Greg had-had one of those, and then after that I saw him drinking red wine…They had bottles of red and white wine out, um, you know, with drinks. So I saw him–he was basically drinking, at least what I saw, red wine for the rest of the night.”
Rehberg has said he did not see whether Barkus was drinking at the restaurant, and did not see any sign that he was impaired at all as the group got back on the boat.
Barkus, the state Senate Republican Majority Whip in the 2009 Legislature, suffered a broken pelvis, several broken ribs and lacerations in the crash. He traveled to a hospital in Seattle for surgery on his pelvis and has been recovering at his home for the last several weeks. Rehberg suffered a badly broken left ankle that required surgery to repair. Frost was in a coma for several days after the crash from a severe head injury. He is now recovering in Missoula. Smith and Barkus’ wife suffered less severe injuries.
Records show Barkus was previously pulled over for drunken driving in 2004 by the Montana Highway Patrol. The charge was reduced to reckless driving, to which Barkus pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a $335 fine and sentenced to attend a driving-and-alcohol course by a Lake County judge. Barkus said at the time his reckless driving was due to worry over the health of his mother.
Update:Sen. Denny Rehberg released this statement this afternoon: “I was surprised to learn the results of Greg’s blood alcohol test. He didn’t appear to be impaired to me when we got on the boat for the return trip to Big Fork. There is, of course, a presumption of innocence in our system of justice and the charges made today by the prosecutors are now in the hands of the Court. I’ll continue to provide whatever information I can to the authorities. My thoughts and prayers remain with Dustin, Kristin, Kathy, Greg and their families.”
Check back with the Flathead Beacon for more updates.
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Come on denny.
I am not saying that pot is harmless-on the contrary. It can make people lazy and a bit stupid when it is abused and it can impair the operation of machinery to some degree as well-but not nearly to the level of moronic lunacy that is routinely displayed by those that imbibe in America’s favorite pet drug-alcohol!Generally people who are stoned just drive too slow-which can be dangerous but usually not nearly as reckless as your average habitual drunk driver and it sounds like Barkus was a habitual drunk driver.
I am sick and tired of the anti pot, good –ol boy mentality that celebrates ones ability to abuse a much more harmful substance while calling for barbaric treatment of any body who prefers to be sedated by a much more benign substance. I have had it up to here with the hypocritical bullshit that allows drunk assholes like the 51 year old habitual offender who hit me head on, with no insurance and then tried to drive away (she didn’t get far with the distended axle and flat tires!!) to continue on with there harmful behavior while I watch my 38 year old friend rot away in Federal prison and miss the best years of his babies lives just for being involved with growing plants.
Clearly the priorities of this country are way out of balance regarding certain subject matter and hypocrisy runs rampant. I have seen crackheads, heroin addicts and even meth freaks behave much better and by and large create way fewer problems for society than your average alcohol abuser, yet society continues to embrace its use like some rite of passage towards maturity and popularity as if its not even a “drug”.
ALL drugs can be bad when abused or used in an inappropriate situation but alcohol is clearly one of the WORST! To be fair, spineless Democrats are just as much to blame for the continuation of this absurd, unwinnable “War on Drugs” as many Republicans but it is overall throughout history, zealously, hypocritical, unreasonably conservative members of the GOP that are largely responsible for this decades long atrocity that is deeply rooted in the hyper-rascist paranoia of a few white politicians and powerful petro-chemical companies!
Seems to me that booze has cost the GOP a lot since Paul Sliter was killed.
The sad thing is that Barkus should have had his ass blasted the first time around when he was on dry land, maybe this incident would not have happened.
Chances are he will skate again. If it was the average guy on the street he'd be on his way to prison. Who's gonna be next? Somebody's kid?
This is the state Senate Republican Majority Whip folks, a fine example of the folks directing policy in the capitol and definitely the good ol' boys covering each others sorry asses.
By supporting prohibition he's helped trigger the worst crime wave in this nation's history.
By supporting prohibition he's helped create a black market with massive incentives to hook both adults and children alike.
By supporting prohibition he's helped to make dangerous substances available in schools and prisons.
By supporting prohibition he's helped raise gang warfare to a level not seen in this country since the days of alcohol bootlegging.
By supporting prohibition he's helped remove many important civil liberties from those citizens you falsely claim to represent.
By supporting prohibition he's helped put previously unknown and contaminated drugs on the streets.
By supporting prohibition he's helped to escalate Theft, Muggings and Burglaries.
By supporting prohibition he's helped to divert scarce law-enforcement resources away from protecting your fellow citizens from the ever escalating violence against their person or property.
By supporting prohibition he's helped overcrowd the courts and prisons, thus making it increasingly impossible to curtail the people who are hurting and terrorizing others.
He should be tarred and feathered!
The picture is certainly worth a thousand words.