By Kathianne Boniello
There will be no criminal charges filed against a Douglas Manor teenager accused of killing two people in July during a boat collision in Little Neck Bay since Queens District Attorney Richard Brown closed the case Tuesday for lack of evidence.
“It has been concluded … that the evidence is legally insufficient to sustain the filing of criminal charges,” Brown said in a statement Tuesday. “Accordingly, our investigation has been closed.”
Brown’s decision came less than a month after one of the most severely injured victims — Bellerose native Marisa Rodgers — spoke to investigators, placing blame for the fatal boat collision squarely on Robert Arnold, 18, of Douglas Manor.
Arnold was initially accused of boating while intoxicated after his 18-foot Sea Ray hit a 19-foot Bayliner piloted by Flushing native John Kondogianis, Rodgers’ husband. Kondogianis, 36, was thrown overboard and killed in the collision= as was George Lawrence, 17, of Little Neck. Lawrence was a friend of Arnold’s and riding on his boat along with four other teens.
Rodgers’ lawyer, Eric Gottfried of Manhattan, said he was not surprised at the DA’s decision. Rodgers and Kondogianis had a son, Nicholas, 10.
“We’re disappointed,” he said. “In my mind the negligence and recklessness is crystal clear.”
Arnold’s family said Tuesday afternoon that the teen, who is attending school at SUNY New Paltz, had not yet heard the news.
“It’s nice to know that it’s closed and we can start moving on,” Arnold’s older sister, Brooke, said. “The only thing that is good news is that Marisa Rodgers is going to be OK and that her son still has a mother.”
Drunken boating charges against Arnold, who refused a Breathalyzer test at the scene of the July 11 boating accident, were dropped a week later after blood tests revealed he had a blood alcohol level of .01.
The DA’s office had continued to investigate the incident to assess whether or not Arnold should have been charged with criminally negligent homicide.
“A comprehensive review has been conducted with respect to all the facts and circumstances surround the tragic incident,” Brown said in the statement.
The review included witness interviews, a physical inspection of both boats and a legal analysis of state boating laws, the DA said.
Arnold’s lawyer, Steven Barnwell, said the family was “greatly relieved” after the DA’s decision.
“It kind of sustained the family’s faith in Robert,” he said. “We knew Robert was very careful with the boat.”
About three weeks ago Gottfried relayed Rodgers’ account of the incident to the media.
Rodgers was in North Shore University Hospital for more than a month after the July 11 boat collision and in a medically induced coma much of that time, Gottfried said.
“He should have been able to see that boat from any angle and any approach,” the lawyer said at the time. “She was able to see (the other boat) bearing down on them at the last moment.”
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
