Crime & Safety
Man Sentenced For Lake Sonoma Drunken Boating In Connection With Death Of Lifelong Friend
BREAKING: The 30-year-old was not charged for causing death of 32-year-old from Santa Rosa due to insufficient evidence, officials said.
SONOMA COUNTY, CA – A Los Angeles-area man was sentenced to 36 months of informal probation in Sonoma County Superior Court this morning for a drunken boating charge in connection with the death of his friend who died while wakeboarding on Lake Sonoma in July.
Andrew Scheff, 30, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor Harbors and Navigations code charge of operating a recreational vessel with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or more. A misdemeanor boating under the
influence of alcohol or drugs charge under the state code was dismissed.
Scheff was not alleged to have caused the death of 32-year-old Brian Allan Edwards of Santa Rosa on July 24.
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The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said there was insufficient evidence to prove that boating
under the influence of alcohol caused Edwards' death.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Maddock said any sporting activity, particularly wakeboarding, can be inherently dangerous.
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Edwards was wakeboarding while Scheff operated the boat at about 20 mph in the Dry Creek area of the lake in northern Sonoma County, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.
Edwards suffered a cut on his head when he hit the wakeboard but was able to swim back to the boat, sheriff's Sgt. Cecile Focha said in July.
Edwards complained of back pain, and his injuries worsened as the boat headed to a private marina where boaters called 911, Focha said.
Scheff appeared to be under the influence of alcohol when the sheriff's office's marine unit responded around 8 p.m., and his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit to operate a boat safely, Focha said.
Scheff's attorney Jeffrey Vallens said in July that the death was a tragedy because Scheff and Edwards were lifelong friends.
Judge Shelly Averill also sentenced Scheff to 20 days in Sonoma County Jail with the option of serving his term under work release. The judge also ordered him to take a U.S. Coast Guard boating safety class and perform 20 hours of community service with any nonprofit agency.
--Bay City News/Shutterstock image
