By Kathianne Boniello
A survivor of the fatal July 11 boat crash on Little Neck Bay filed a $20 million civil lawsuit against the Douglas Manor teen accused of causing the collision.
Lawyers for Bellerose resident Marisa Rodgers, 29, who was severely injured in the crash and whose husband, John Kondogianis, 36, a Flushing native, was killed, filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court Oct. 18, about four months after the collision occurred.
The Rodgers lawsuit, against both Robert Arnold, the 18-year-old accused of reckless boating in the accident, and his father, Craig Arnold, seeks $20 million in damages for physical and emotional injuries. Craig Arnold was included in the lawsuits as the owner of the boat his son was piloting the night of the collision.
The family of another crash victim, George Lawrence, 17, of Little Neck, also filed a civil lawsuit against Robert Arnold on Oct. 11. A lawyer for the Lawrence family did not return calls as of press time Tuesday. Published reports said the lawsuit was seeking $6 million in damages.
Neither Robert Arnold, who has been attending school at the State University of New York at New Paltz, his family or lawyer could be reached for comment as of press time Tuesday.
Arnold was initially accused of boating while intoxicated after his 18-foot Sea Ray hit a 19-foot Bayliner piloted by Kondogianis. Kondogianis was thrown overboard and killed in the collision as was George Lawrence. Lawrence was a friend of Arnold’s and riding on his boat along with four other teens.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown closed a criminal investigation into the case earlier this month, saying there was not enough evidence to sustain charges of criminally negligent homicide against Arnold.
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, weel below the legal limit for intoxication.
Rodgers, who had a 10-year-old son, Nicholas, with Kondogianis, gave an account of the crash to the district attorney’s office last month in which she blamed Arnold for boating recklessly.
Her lawyer, Eric Gottfried, said Rodgers claimed that the lights on her boat were on and visible.
“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.”
In her lawsuit, Rodgers claims Arnold was piloting the Sea Ray “while under the influence of alcohol and/or other intoxicants” and “permitted open containers of alcohol and/or other intoxicants” to be on the boat that night.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
