Three fishers were forced to leap for their lives when a yacht crashed into them on Columbia River in the US. Source: Angling Oregon
A fisherman is suing a speedboat driver after he crashed into his vessel, forcing him and his passengers to dive into the river.
A GoPro camera captured the dramatic moment Marlin Lee Larsen's 31-foot motorboat plowed into Bryan Maess' 20-foot fishing boat near the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon on August 12.
The three people on board the boat jumped for their lives as the motorboat speeds straight towards them.
Footage shows Maess, who had been fishing with passengers Christopher McMahon and Roni Durham, frantically waving his arms and shouting 'Hey!' to try and get the attention of the boat bearing down on them.
"Oh my God," screamed one of his passengers as the realization sunk in that the boat wasn't going to stop
All three jumped into the icy river with seconds to spare. The next moment, Larsen's boat crashed into the fishing vessel, causing serious damage.
Maess, 47, an off-duty Hermiston police officer and part time salmon fisherman, says he suffered injuries to his ankle, leg and arm during the incident, while McMahon, 46, and Durham, 57, also suffered injuries.
The smaller vessel was destroyed by the much bigger launch.
Propeller marks on the inside of the small fishing boat.
Larsen, 75, who uses a motorised scooter on land, told investigators he crashed because he was unable to see the other boat from his sitting position.
Larsen's son-in-law, who was on the boat, told investigators that he had warned his father-in-law to pay attention and that his father-in-law had been off-and-on his cell phone the morning of the crash.
Larsen insisted that he'd only used phone on the morning of the crash, telling Oregon Live such claims were 'fake news.'
Police say neither drugs nor alcohol were a factor in the crash but cited Larsen for reckless operation, three counts of reckless endangerment and three counts of fourth-degree assault.
Larsen has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Now Maess has filed a US$372,500 ($510k) lawsuit against Larsen.
In it, he claims he suffered vision problems and is still wearing a knee brace six months later.
McMahon and Durham, who suffered cuts and hypothermia, have hired attorneys and plan to file their own lawsuits.
Durham also reportedly suffered psychological trauma and has not been able to go back out on a boat since.
