EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (WJAR) — A woman who fell off a 38-foot sailboat while she and her husband were out on the water will be fined after their vessel hit the Newport Bridge.
William and Delyse Shakespeare, of Johnston, will be issued tickets for the following charges:
- Operating an unregistered boat
- Improper or no lookout
- Failing to take appropriate action to avoid collision
William was also charged with reckless operation of a motorboat.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management released an incident report Monday, indicating that alcohol played a role in the crash, which occurred near Potter’s Cove on August 17 around 2 p.m. The U.S. Coast Guard received a report of a missing person in the area between the Newport Bridge and Conimicut Point.
The report notes that 50-year-old William said he drove his boat back to the East Greenwich Yacht Club, thinking his 55-year-old wife was aboard. But as it turns out, she apparently fell off and swam for about 20 minutes to shore.
Meanwhile, William was sleeping on the boat. He told an investigator that he and his wife started having cocktails Friday morning before falling asleep on the boat's dock.
William said he last remembered seeing his wife around 1 p.m. when he said she handed him a drink. He woke up a few hours later when the boat hit the Newport Bridge, later telling police he assumed his wife was sleeping, too.
Read the rest of this sorry saga at Turn to 10.
