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Boater Charged in Long Lake Deaths Surrenders Passport

October 16, 2007 - LEWISTON - The Massachusetts man charged with two counts of manslaughter in connection with the boating deaths on Long Lake last August has been forced to surrender his passport as a condition of his bail.

Robert LaPointe Jr., 38, of Bridgton and Medway, Mass., was indicted by a Cumberland County grand jury last week on the manslaughter charges, disorderly conduct and four counts of operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was booked and bailed at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland on Wednesday. In addition to standard bail conditions such as not engaging in criminal conduct, he is not permitted to use or possess drugs or alcohol and must submit to random searches.

LaPointe is scheduled to be arraigned in Cumberland County Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 26, on all charges.

LaPointe has been charged as the owner and operator of a 34-foot Sunsation Dominator on Aug. 11 that ran over a smaller vessel, cutting it in half. Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Naples and 44-year-old Suzanne Groetzinger of Berwick were on the smaller boat and died in the collision. It took the Maine Warden Service three days to locate their bodies.

In addition to the manslaughter and OUI charges, the indictment outlines the disorderly conduct charge against LaPointe as "recklessly" creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury to Trott, Groetzinger and to his Sunsation passenger, 19-year-old Nichole Randall of Bridgton. More specifically, by using "a dangerous weapon, namely, a watercraft, by operating the watercraft at an excessive speed, failing to maintain adequate visibility, failing to keep clear when overtaking a watercraft, failing to yield to another watercraft and/or operating the watercraft while under the influence of intoxicants."

LaPointe and Randall were thrown from the speedboat in the collision and swam to shore. Neither was seriously injured.

The accident happened at 9 p.m. in the middle of the 11-mile-long lake. The Sunsation ended up more than 130 feet into the woods on the east shore near the Harrison/Naples line.

Public safety dispatch records for the Maine State Police and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department each note that Randall and LaPointe were being treated on shore just before 10 p.m. and had told rescuers that they had been hit by another boat.

According to the Cumberland County Jail's booking sheets, LaPointe has some history of criminal and civil penalties, including fishing without a license in August 1994. According to the Maine Warden Service, LaPointe has two civil watercraft violations, including failure to have a fishing license on June 4, 1994, and operating a motorboat exceeding the noise limit on Aug. 14, 2004. And, according to the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office, he has a conviction for operating after suspension in Massachusetts in the 1990s.

LaPointe, who turned himself in at the Cumberland County Jail, was freed on $100,000 cash bail.

A call to LaPointe's attorney was not returned Friday.

SOURCE: Sun-Journal

DATE: 10-13-2007


Lakes: Long Lake
Regions: Sebago


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