Terrifying Oregon Boat Crash Captured On Camera

HAMMOND, OR — On a cloudy Saturday in August last year, three salmon trollers near the mouth of the Columbia River were forced overboard when another boater drove his 31-foot Trophy Bayliner right over the top of the trollers' Weldcraft.

The trollers — two law enforcement officials and a friend — sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the collision, but injuries nonetheless that have persisted since the crash and prevented one of the law enforcement officials, an officer in Hermiston, from working.

For the loss of work time and accrued expenses, Bryan Maess, 47, filed a $372,500 lawsuit against the Bayliner's driver, 75-year-old Roseburg resident Marlin Lee Larsen, who owns the Harborview Resort Lodge and Mini Lodges in Hammond.

For his part, Larsen was charged at the time of the incident with three counts of assault and recklessly endangering another person, and one count of reckless operation of a boat — all Class A misdemeanors.

In his official complaint filed Jan. 6, Maess said he sustained injuries "not limited to his right knee, right arm, right shin, ankle and the right side of his head … (he) uses a knee brace on the right knee and still experiences pain and limitation of his mobility."

Additionally, the complaint continues, the wound to Maess' shin developed cellulitis and has not yet fully healed, and an ankle injury persists, though pain he initially felt in his neck and left thumb, as well as blurred vision and headaches, have become less severe.

The suit amount will reportedly recompense Maess for lost wages, past and future medical expenses, as well as lost enjoyment of life in general.

According to The Oregonian/OregonLive, Larsen normally uses a motorized scooter to get around and has a history of using his cell phone while boating — which is against the law in Oregon. Larsen's son-in-law, who was on the Bayliner at the time of the crash, told investigators he'd warned Larsen to pay attention prior to the collision and that he'd seen Larsen on and off his cell phone throughout the morning.

Larsen also admitted to investigators he couldn't see where he was going "because he was sitting down and the dash of his boat was blocking his view," OregonLive reported.

In a phone conversation with OregonLive, Larsen reportedly said the accusation that he was on his cell phone was "fake news," and that the lawsuit itself was "unnecessary because the people in the Weldcraft weren’t hurt badly."

Larsen has pleaded not guilty to the official charges but has been prevented from traveling to an Astoria court from his Roseburg home due to "multiple medical illnesses," according to his physician, Angela Jones.

Image via Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine, YouTube