DEATH ON WATER: 1 DEAD, 1 IN COMA AFTER SPEED-BOAT DOES "DONUTS," NO ARREST

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: DEATH ON WATER: 1 DEAD, 1 IN COMA AFTER SPEED-BOAT DOES "DONUTS," NO ARREST

Date: July 21, 2026
Host: Nancy Grace

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Episode Overview

Nancy Grace investigates a devastating boating collision at Harrington Lake, Kentucky, that left 25-year-old Nazar Svintaleski dead and his father in a coma. The incident, which involved a wakeboat colliding with a stationary family pontoon during Fourth of July celebrations, occurred in full view of several witnesses. Despite the fatality and significant injuries, no arrests have been made, leading to intense discussion about justice, responsibility, and the adequacy of law enforcement’s response.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Incident: What Happened

• Setting the Scene: The Svintaleski family was celebrating Independence Day on their pontoon boat, which was stationary while some children were tubing.
  [02:47] Reporter: “As their pontoon sits motionless on the water, a wakeboat suddenly slams into it, throwing Nazar into the lake and triggering a desperate search and rescue operation.”
• Witness Accounts: The wakeboat was observed performing “donuts” (tight circles at high speed) and then accelerating directly into the pontoon.
  [04:52] Justin Peterson: “We have eyewitnesses who will testify that that boat was doing multiple donuts and then opened it up going full speed into the pontoon boat.”

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2. The Aftermath: Response and Evidence

• Immediate Aftermath: According to witnesses, after the collision, the wakeboat driver removed the boat from the water without law enforcement supervision.
  [08:42] Tyler Beauchene: “They didn’t take the time to strap down their boat… went up the hill through a different exit… and left the scene later.”
• Lack of Law Enforcement Action: No immediate charges; concerns raised about investigative thoroughness and evidence preservation, especially given that the boat (potential key evidence) was quickly moved.
  [09:23] Nancy Grace: “Imagine your child out there in the water and you hear EMS state… we’re looking now in deep water. It’s going to be a recovery.”
• Witness Video: Tyler Beauchene’s video critical to documenting the situation post-accident.

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3. Boat Safety and Recklessness

• Discussion on Safety Regulations:
  [10:43] Ben Dobrin: “Kentucky doesn’t have a required boater safety course… most states have a required boater safety course that go over the very basic rules of boat operation.”
• Negligence Alleged: Multiple experts point out that the wakeboat driver had every opportunity to avoid the collision and that “donuts” at high speed were exceptionally reckless.
  [12:28] Ben Dobrin: “A wakeboat is very low to the water. It is not designed to go over waves… He purposely created waves by doing donuts and then went in a straight line… He did not lose steering and there was no mechanical problem.”

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4. Legal and Forensic Perspectives

• Implied vs Explicit Intent: Nancy Grace distinguishes between explicit (“I intend to kill you”) and implied intent (“acting so recklessly the law infers intent”), drawing parallels with legal standards for manslaughter or criminal negligence.
  [17:17] Nancy Grace: “Implied intent is when the law may imply or deduce your intent...”
• Boat Accident Investigation: Experts discuss reconstructing events from boat damage and electronic data, noting the urgency as some digital evidence (like GPS data) can be lost after 30 days.
  [22:17] Phil Odom: “If it’s a cell phone with an app like Life360, it’s retained by that company for 30 days… But evidence can be gathered from those devices.”
• Current Status: Both boats have been seized, law enforcement is investigating, but family and community are left frustrated by the slow pace and lack of transparency.
  [24:49] Justin Peterson: “I can't comment on the law enforcement investigation right now. However, the family has cooperated with law enforcement...”

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5. Victim & Family Impact

• Religious Consolation & Trauma: The family’s faith helped them through the tragedy, but trauma (including night terrors in grandchildren and severe injuries in surviving adults) remains profound.
  [03:03] Sister Yana: “His good fight was truly sincere… The biggest comfort is knowing that he is with our Lord and Savior.”
• Graphic Injury Descriptions: Medical examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns describes the potentially catastrophic nature of the impact and injuries.
  [41:42] Dr. Kendall Crowns: “The bow of the boat could have potentially hit one of the individuals in the chest, possibly impaling them... The prop blades can cut into the skin… decapitate and cut limbs off...”
• No Justice So Far: As of recording, there are no criminal charges, not even a BUI (Boating Under the Influence) citation, despite reports the driver refused a breathalyzer.
  [47:15] Nancy Grace: “And yet, Justin Peterson, not even a B, U, I... nothing, no citation, no anything has been lodged.”

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6. Community Division & Concerns

• Divided Reactions: Some in the community defend the wakeboat driver, while others, including witnesses, face backlash for speaking out.
  [39:08] Tyler Beauchene: “We’re just baffled… There’s people defending him all over the community Facebook groups… We’ve received threats for speaking out. The whole community is really split...”
• Law Enforcement Scrutiny: Guests express disbelief that the driver was allowed to leave the scene, refuse a breathalyzer, and not immediately face consequences.
  [38:08] Phil Odom: “Why was the boat not seized at that point? ... If he refused a Breathalyzer, there’s always a search warrant for a blood drop.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [06:17] Justin Peterson: “The family saw him coming and was yelling and screaming for them to stop... There was more than enough time to avoid this horrific incident.”
• [11:31] Nancy Grace (colorful as ever): “This guy obviously does not know his ass from a hole in the ground. Any idiot would know… you don’t go full throttle and start doing donuts.”
• [17:17] Nancy Grace: “Implied intent is when the law may imply or deduce your intent. So if I get in my car, my minivan and floor it and run through an outdoor bazaar at 90 miles per hour and I mow down four people and kill them… the law can imply I meant very, very nefarious outcome.”
• [33:25] Nancy Grace (on boat operation): “I don’t care if it doesn’t have a brake, take your foot off the gas. That’s what I would suggest in a car. Isn’t that true for a boat? I don’t want to hear there’s no brake, you couldn’t stop. That’s BS.”
• [36:16] Nancy Grace (astonished): “Wait a minute… you just get released when you refuse a breathalyzer? ...But you’re getting arrested.”
• [47:31] Justin Peterson: “In addition to all the physical and mental difficulties he’s [Alex, the father] going to have, in addition to learning that his son is dead, that his grandchildren have night terrors, that his wife has a shattered arm, we hope that he wakes up to some type of accountability.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:47] – Initial report and family interview on what happened
• [04:52] – Lawyer Justin Peterson outlines the events and witnesses
• [07:26] – Eyewitness discusses removal of the wakeboat post-crash
• [09:23] – EMS assessment: from rescue to recovery mission
• [10:43] – Boater safety and rules discussion
• [17:17] – Legal dissection: recklessness, intent, and the law
• [20:57] – Forensic evidence, GPS and electronics as investigation tools
• [26:22] – Damage to the pontoon and family makeup at time of collision
• [36:16] – Controversy over refusal of breathalyzer, law enforcement response
• [41:42] – Dr. Kendall Crowns describes possible injuries in detail
• [46:19] – Recovery of Nazar’s body and the family’s trauma
• [47:31] – Call for justice, ongoing agony for the family

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Conclusion

Nancy Grace’s episode exposes the infuriating gaps in immediate accountability after a horrific tragedy on the water. Legal experts, witnesses, and forensic professionals converge to bring clarity — and to highlight the emotional and legal complexities of boating accidents. At the heart remain the unanswered prayers of a family, the trauma of children who witnessed the crash, and a community divided on justice.

If you have information related to this case, the family and Nancy Grace urge you to contact authorities at 859-623-2404.

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Tone and Style

The episode carries Nancy Grace’s trademark blend of passionate legal examination, empathy for victims, and sharp criticism of perceived investigative failures. The tone is urgent, direct, and sometimes confrontational, reflecting the serious stakes for justice and accountability.

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For more detail, listen to the full episode of "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace."

Transcript

[Nancy Grace]

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[Nancy Grace]

Price void in Florida Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Tonight, death on the water. One dead, one in a coma after a speedboat does donuts and yet no arrests. One dead, one in a coma and no arrest. Good evening, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us.

[Narrator/Reporter]

25 year old Nazar Svintaleski heads to Harrington Lake with his family to celebrate the fourth of July. As their pontoon sits motionless on the water on a wakeboat suddenly slams into it, throwing Nazar into the lake and triggering a desperate search and rescue operation.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

I remember one time he opened up to us and we started Talking about prayer. We gave him a suggestion to be specific in his prayers and even to write them down in his notebook to be his reminder. I didn't think much of it until a few days ago when I first walked into his bedroom. I saw a little notebook next to his Bible and his desk. When I opened it up, he had a list of all his prayers for that day. For that specific day. His good fight was truly sincere and not just empty words. There was so much to learn from his last few months on Earth. The biggest comfort is knowing that he is with our Lord and Savior.

[Justin Peterson]

It was America's 250th birthday. You know, people were out celebrating and there was great cause to celebrate. But when people do so recklessly, this is exactly what happens. The eyewitnesses will say that the boat was opened up going at full speed when it hit an idle pontoon boat. That pontoon boat was not moving. There were children that were still in the tube on the lake that were not impacted because they were not on the boat.

[Nancy Grace]

You are hearing the victim's sister Yana speaking. And that's from our friends at Ukrainian Pentecostal Church. You also heard sound from WKYT and Fox 56. And the speaker is joining us tonight. Straight out to Justin Peterson, now working with the victim's family, founding partner, Peterson Law Firm and star of It's Not Fair podcast. Well, truer words were never spoken, but maybe we can do something about that tonight. Justin Peterson, thank you for being with us. What in the hay happened?

[Justin Peterson]

Nancy, this is truly a tragedy. As you heard earlier, we have 250 years of celebrating America. This beautiful family was on a boat. And to give your viewers some perspective, we we have Alex and Tonya Nazar, Anessa, Lena, Andrew and four children were on this idle pontoon boat. Two of the children were on a tube, as you know, and the boat never stopped. It came at them from a long distance after driving recklessly throughout the day. What witnesses will say, but certainly in the moments leading up to the collision, we have eyewitnesses who will testify that that boat was doing multiple donuts and then opened it up going full speed into the pontoon boat. Truly a tragedy you are seeing from

[Nancy Grace]

our friends at wkyt, the search, the search for the body of this beloved young family member now dead. Did I just hear you say Justin Peterson? Let me see him. That somebody was doing high speed donuts in the water and slammed into an an idol sitting there motionless. Pontoon.

[Justin Peterson]

Yeah. And in addition to that, the family saw him coming and was yelling and screaming for them to stop. The distance between the reckless donuts and the act and the incident location and is a long distance, which means there was more than enough time to avoid this horrific incident because I noticed you

[Nancy Grace]

said at the beginning, Justin Peterson, that the speedboat was coming at them for some distance. Is that correct?

[Justin Peterson]

That is correct.

[Nancy Grace]

You know where I'm going. You're a trial lawyer.

[Justin Peterson]

I do.

[Nancy Grace]

Because premeditation under the law does not require a long, drawn out scenario. The example I would always give to juries is such as poisoning someone over weeks and months until they finally keel over. And a medical examiner wouldn't know to look for poisoning. It might look like a heart condition. It doesn't require that. Hold on. Tyler Bashane joining us, a witness who happened to record the male driving the speed boat. What did you observe, Tyler?

[Tyler Beauchene]

Hi, Nancy. I actually observed them removing the boat from the water after they. After the accident and with no supervision from law enforcement, taking the boat and leaving while Alex was Nazar's father was being worked on in the ambulance and right next to them.

[Nancy Grace]

We're showing Tyler's video now. I've got a point for this. Let me understand. Tyler Bechaine, witness thought, thank heaven to record what she was observing. And there goes the speedboat we're talking about after crashing into the pontoon, leaving one dead, one beloved son dead, dad in a coma, for Pete's sake. What do they do? There's dad. All I can think about is my father when he was in the hospital so many times, hooked up to every tube you can imagine. I want to see them. I want to see the father. What does a speedboat do after they leave dad like this? What did they do? Tyler Bechaine, what did you observe?

[Tyler Beauchene]

They took their boat out of the water, same driver behind the wheel, still operating the boat, and left the entire marina. They didn't take the time to strap down their boat. They didn't get out of the. Out of the boat. The passengers didn't unload. They just went up the hill through a different exit than the one that was blocked off and left the scene later, which they stopped on the road and unloaded out of sight of law enforcement.

[Brad Cox]

The optimistic side of me wants to say, yes, it's a rescue mission. But knowing the time frame, we're looking more deep water, so it's going towards a recovery.

[Nancy Grace]

That was Brad Cox, Mercer County EMS Director, Emergency Medical Services, from our friends at wkyt. Let me hear that one more time, please.

[Brad Cox]

The optimistic side of me wants to say, yes, it's a rescue mission. But knowing the time frame, we're looking more deep water. So it's going towards a recovery.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, right there. Imagine your son. I've got a son and a daughter, they're twins. Imagine your child out there in the water and you hear EMS state and he's true. What he says is true. I wanted to believe it was a rescue mission, but we're looking now in deep water. It's going to be a recovery. Just think about knowing your child is floating out in that dark water and why. Straight out to Ben Durbin joining me out of Virginia Beach, Virginia, emergency response, diving instructor, trainer, police diver, emergency services diver, search and rescue. Ben, I don't care how much they tried, I don't believe they could have rescued him.

[Ben Dobrin]

No. The impact, that was pretty awful. And it was very deep water. I mean, the reports are it was 150 to 180ft deep. But the impact itself was devastating. It looks amazing that father is still alive. But seeing pictures of him in the hospital, you know, that was absolutely a devastating impact. One of the things that I'm curious about is, you know, the boats collided and it's kind of hard in a straight line to not see another boat. And there's some pretty clear rules of the road when you're operating a boat. But one of the things I looked up is Kentucky doesn't have a required boater safety course because most states have a required boater safety course that go over the very basic rules of boat operation.

[Nancy Grace]

Ben Dobran. Sorry, but a boat safety course? This guy obviously does not know his ass from a hole in the ground. Any idiot would know when you're surrounded by other boaters, swimmers, skiers, that you don't go full throttle and start doing donuts. You do know, Ben Durbin, what a donut is?

[Family Member or Close Friend]

Do you know?

[Nancy Grace]

First start right there. Do you know what a donut is?

[Ben Dobrin]

I do. I absolutely do.

[Justin Peterson]

The wake boat comes this way and the X is where he starts doing donuts at a very high rate of speed. He comes out of that donut, has it completely open and does not hit them until here, and then runs completely over them.

[Nancy Grace]

Lex18. Okay, Ben Dobran donuts at a high speed. Do you want to explain what that means? Dobran?

[Ben Dobrin]

A donut is basically a 360 or more degrees. You're circling the boat, he's driving a wakeboat. A wakeboat's an interesting type of boat in that it is designed to make waves behind it to make a wake. So when he's doing these donuts, when he's spinning the boat in these 360s or 720s or how many revolutions he's doing, he's throwing a really big weight. So when he has to exit it, and it sounds like he exited the donuts and then went straight and then hit the pontoon boat, and he's going over waves. A wakeboat is very low to the water. It is not designed to go over waves. And so, you know, I don't know what happened to him, if he lost control, if he got, you know, but whatever. That boat is not designed to go over waves. He purposely created waves by doing donuts and then went in a straight line. It's not designed to go over waves. It is obviously steerable because it was doing donuts and it went to a straight line. So I have no idea. Anybody with two eyes or even one eye would be able to see a boat in front of them and turn the boat if there was some sort of mechanical failure and steerage was lost. You can still turn the boat off. You can drop the throttle, lose power, or. All boats have a kill switch, a lanyard that you pull, and it kills forward propulsion. So there's a lot of things you can do if for some reason there was a mechanical problem. But I'm telling you there wasn't a mechanical problem because he took the boat back to dock, put it on a trailer, and drove away. We heard the other speaker talk about how he took it back and put it on the trailer, so that means you could steer it. So he did not lose steering and there was no mechanical problem.

[Nancy Grace]

To Tyler Boshang joining us, a witness there that day, and thanks to her, we have the video to which Ben Dobran referring. I saw the video, Tyler, and Dobran is right. He doesn't seem to have a problem steering the boat and getting the hay out of there, does he? All I can see him is elbows and tail hole running away.

[Tyler Beauchene]

Absolutely. He. He was still operating the boat. And that's something that the community locally can't understand is how he's still behind the wheel. You know, if the boat was allegedly sinking, then that's fine. You gotta get off the water. But why didn't law enforcement supervise that or take over control of the boat to get it off the water? And instead of letting him drive away with a boat full of potential evidence and time to potentially get his story straight with his passengers.

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[Nancy Grace]

Justin Peterson joining me representing the victim's family. Did you hear what Dobrin said? And I've got to tell you Ben Dobrin as soon as Join us. Phil Odom are two experts in their fields when it comes to diving water recovery, water reconstruction of accidents. But Justin, I heard Ben Dobrin state I don't know what he meant to do coming out of that donut. I don't expect Dobran to be a legal expert. You I do expect to be a legal expert because it doesn't matter what he intended. Under the law there is implied and explicit intent to to commit a crime. Explicit intent is when I say, justin, I'm killing you, then I kill you. It's explicit what I'm going to do and that I intend it. Implied intent is when the law may imply or deduce your intent. So if I get in my car, my minivan and floor it and run through an outdoor bazaar at 90 miles per hour and I mow down four people and kill them, I may not mean to kill that specific person, but the law can imply I meant very, very nefarious outcome.

[Phil Odom]

You also don't have to necessarily be intoxicated. If you're driving in a reckless manner or wanton manner, then that takes it to another level.

[Nancy Grace]

That was Don Evans, former Lexington PD investigator, from our friends at Fox 56 why to you, Dave Mack, Crime Stories Investigator, is the former Lexington PD investigator talking about you don't have to necessarily be intoxicated if you're driving in a reckless manner. I don't care if he was drunk as a skunk because voluntary use of drugs or alcohol is not a defense.

[Dave Mack]

But something to point out, Nancy, is that the pontoon boat was sitting in the water, anchored, not moving. The wake boat was coming straight at him and drove right through the pontoon boat. Now, when the wake boat driver leaves, as we're watching right there, he goes home. Nancy Now, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, they're in charge of this investigation because it happened on the on the water. But it was the sheriff's department that was went to the man's house and brought him back to talk to Fish and Wildlife. So the deputies, the sheriff's department should not have even been involved in that aspect of it. They just went and got the guy. They knew it was it was never a question of who was driving the boat or even where that person lived because they went and got him and brought him back.

[Nancy Grace]

That's not a good look that you have to be tracked down by the sheriff and the wildlife department. And I got to give credit to wildlife. I worked with Department of Natural Resources in Georgia before I became a prosecutor. They take this and all other similar offenses very seriously. But tonight, there's no arrest. Joining me right now, in addition to being Dobran and others, is Phil Odom. He is a boating accident reconstructionist. I don't know why we say accident because there's a big difference in an accident and a crash. He is the owner of H2O Investigations, former law enforcement. You can find him at htoinvestigations.com Phil how can I figure out forensically what happened?

[Phil Odom]

First, we're missing a big piece of this, which is law enforcement side and we have nothing on that. Now. It's been almost two weeks. No charges, no arrests have been made. We needed to kind of know what their investigation is doing and where it's at. But hopefully they're looking at a variety of different things. First off, in today's age, cell phones are a very big evidentiary tool. In addition to the actual phone, there's a lot of tracking apps so you can tell the exact speed, exact route. There's also electronics on vessels such as fish finders and GPS on, on both vessels which they can get information from. I'm sure they're looking at all that. But it's not as cut and dry, apparently with law enforcement as Mr. Peterson has portrayed about what happened or some sort of charges I would think would be filed.

[Nancy Grace]

Phil Odom, got a question for you. I'm going to have to have you retell me all that. I'm a trial lawyer. I'm not a boating expert like you and Dobron are. What if the GPS device has been destroyed? Is that evidence in the cloud?

[Phil Odom]

It depends on the type of device. If it's a cell phone with an app like Life360, it's retained by that company for 30 days after the event. Also, forensically, even if it's destroyed, some of them have SD cards. It doesn't necessarily go to a cloud. They're not really sophistic. Some of the GPS units on boats, especially like a pontoon boat, most of the time you're going to see like a GPS type fish finder on them. But evidence can be gathered from those devices.

[Nancy Grace]

Trying to take in everything you're saying. Phil Odom joining us from H2O investigations. If I look at the pontoon forensically and I look at the speedboat forensically, just think of it as a car crash. What am I looking for to be able to tell what happened? Because I believe looking at the evidence will shed light on what occurred.

[Phil Odom]

I agree. And from my perspective, I have not seen any photographs of the pontoon boat. I don't know how the collision occurred. It seems to from the information I have that the wake boarding boat was a striking vessel. But there's three collision situations in boating. There's a head on situation, there's a crossing situation and there's an overtaking situation and someone had a right of way in that. Those situations I can't tell because I can't look at the vessels to see what type of situation that was and who was the burden vessel to give way. Again, law enforcement haven't published anything yet as far as what their investigation is.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, good point, Justin Peterson. What is their investigation? Did you hear what Phil Odom just said? That if. And that's a big if. If this is in the cloud, if the GPS has been destroyed, it's only good. It's only there for 30 days. It's not like cell phone data. Or you put it online on digital, it lives forever. Not necessarily true with GPS data. So have you filed discovery and had a judge issue an order not to destroy evidence for what good it is? And what's law enforcement doing?

[Justin Peterson]

So I can't comment on the law enforcement investigation right now. However, the family has cooperated with law enforcement and I do know that law enforcement has talked to the eyewitnesses, the same eyewitnesses that I have talked to. So while we will.

[Ben Dobrin]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Nancy Grace]

Hold on, Nelly. What family is cooperating with law enforcement?

[Justin Peterson]

Well, our family has talked to law enforcement about what they saw and what I reported to you.

[Nancy Grace]

Those are his family?

[Justin Peterson]

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely they are.

[Nancy Grace]

What about the other family, the one driving the speedboat?

[Justin Peterson]

You would hope they're cooperating too, but I'm not privy to that information at this time.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, so what's the investigation entail?

[Justin Peterson]

So far I have seen the pictures of the boats and the damage. It is a head on collision. It's exactly how the eyewitness is described. And hopefully there is scientific data being gathered for the purpose of a reconstruction to ensure accountability is being held both criminally and civilly.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, Justin Peterson, now I see why you're such a successful trial lawyer. Guess I've got a cross examine you. You said you don't know what's happening in the investigation, Justin. Well, has the pontoon been seized? Your client's pontoon?

[Justin Peterson]

Yes, police do have that. Yes, they do. They do have possession of the pontoon.

[Nancy Grace]

That would suggest to me that they are taking measurements and photos. Do you agree?

[Justin Peterson]

I definitely agree with that.

[Nancy Grace]

Justin Peterson, could you describe the damage to the pontoon?

[Justin Peterson]

I have seen the photos. They were not produced to me, but I have been able to see those along with the family because they did get a report about the current status of where things stand. The. The pontoon is obliterated. It is disgusting how just the. The. It's irreparable and it went straight through the entire top of that pontoon. The sides are bent. It looks just Like a wake boat crashed into it at full speed.

[Nancy Grace]

I'm surprised anybody survived. Who was on the pontoon? Justin?

[Justin Peterson]

So we had 10 people. Two of the children were on a tube, which is why the boat was stopped. They were switching out. Nazar was going to get on the tube. Two of the children were on the tube. There was another two children within the boat and then there were four adults that were in the boat as well.

[Nancy Grace]

Ben Dobrin joining us, emergency response diving instructor and so much more. Ben, I'd like to hear your analysis.

[Ben Dobrin]

It sounds, you know, as we just heard the pictures, it was hit in the bow. So it was a head on collision, which is a horrible, horrible collision. Our rules of the road state that everybody, rule number eight, everybody has a expectation to avoid collisions. Even if you violate all the other rules, you know, the standard is in a head on situation. If you have two boats approaching each other, the first thing they're going to try to do is each turn to the right. But if the pontoon boat wasn't underway, it couldn't turn. It couldn't do anything to get out of the way. Reports are it was kind of just dead in the water. It was just sitting there. And then. So for the other boat to hit it dead on, it was the only one that could move out of the way. If it was the only one that was moving, only one of them could get out of the way. And the standard operation is you turn to the right. But rule number eight says you turn any way you can or you turn your boat off or whatever you can do to avoid the collision. So obviously the wake boat did not avoid the collision. It did not do the most basic of boater safety and avoid a collision. And you know, I have no idea why, but for some reason he was target fixated and drove right into the front of another boat. And by all reports, it was a very violent collision. So it doesn't sound like he even slowed down before the impact, that he was going at full throttle and made impact, that he wasn't even aware that there was a boat in front of him. Because anybody would slow down if they think they're going to hit something. Whether you're driving a car and you're going to hit another car or you're driving a boat. Natural reaction is to slow down. It does not sound like he, he neither steered to the left nor the right, nor he slowed. Now, boats do not have brakes. That's one thing that a lot of new boaters don't understand. Boats do not have brakes. The only way to slow a boat down is to reduce propulsion and then if you have to an emergency situation, put it in reverse. But that can, you know, damage your motor and your props and all that other stuff. But they don't have brakes. And so even if you want to slow down a boat very quickly, you can't. And so that's just another consideration that we have to think about is did he know? But he didn't turn. It was a head on collision. He did not turn. So it sounds like a horrible.

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Edu.

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[Nancy Grace]

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Ben Dobran I typically agree with everything that you say and you and Odom know a lot more about water reconstruction and water crashes than I do. But I don't care if it doesn't have a brake, take your foot off the gas. That's what I would suggest in a car. Isn't that true for a boat? I don't want to hear there's no brake, you couldn't stop. That's BS Dopan. Turn the other way or let up on the gas. How hard is that?

[Ben Dobrin]

You do let up on the gas. And very similar to a car, if you let up on the gas on a car, you will slow down. On a boat you will slow down. A car has a brake that will stop you. A boat does not have that. So yes, if you let up on the.

[Nancy Grace]

What is that thing called that? A steering wheel? Oh yes. Are you telling me he couldn't steer away, take a right turn?

[Ben Dobrin]

I'm not telling you that. He should have steered away. He should have done a right turn. But even if he did a left turn, it doesn't matter. You have to turn to avoid a collision. He did not do that. It does not sound like he slowed down. He didn't hit it at drift speed. It sounded like he hit it at that full throttle that the witnesses said. So no, he did not do anything to avoid this accident.

[Nancy Grace]

Phil Odom Unlike a car crash, we may have evidence of slamming on brakes. We may have skid marks or not, which suggests the brakes were not applied. In a crash like this, you don't have skid marks or lack thereof. You'll have to determine impact based on the injury to the pontoon.

[Phil Odom]

Damage analysis that is correct. That's going to be paramount in figuring out exactly what happened, what the movements were just prior to the collision, at the time of collision and after the collision. But again, I would have to see the damage to the vessels in order to make that determination. And Mr. Peterson didn't say in which I'm hoping that law enforcement did. Did they seize the other vessel? They should have seized Both vessels, in order to do the analysis on the vessels to reconstruct it.

[Nancy Grace]

My guess is if they've got the pontoon, if they seize the pontoon, they seize the speedboat as well. Going out on a limb there. But another issue, Tyler Beauchene, who recorded the driver steering out of the water, having the wherewithal to get that boat upon a vehicle, didn't even bother strapping it down and took off. Tyler, what made you decide to video that?

[Tyler Beauchene]

Nancy? At the time, I didn't know that I was filming anything important. When they were loading the boat up, their strap broke and the truck was having trouble pulling it out. So I started filming, thinking it would be like a funny boat ramp video. And I didn't notice until two days later when somebody said the boat was red and black, that I went back through my pictures from that day and saw them removing that from the water. And at that time, we actually, my mother and I called the game warden sergeant from Fish and Wildlife, Sergeant Cornett, and sent them the video and asked them some questions about what had happened. And that's when he actually, at that time, confirmed that the driver of the boat was. Was released after refusing a Breathalyzer.

[Nancy Grace]

What? You can. Wait a minute. Justin Peterson, you just get released when you refuse a breathalyzer because when you're talking about cars and you don't take a breathalyzer, you're violating your privilege of having a driver's license. You don't take a Breathalyzer. Fine, don't. Nobody's making you. But you're getting arrested.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

What? What?

[Nancy Grace]

What? He just left without taking a breathalyzer.

[Justin Peterson]

Nancy, you're 100% accurate that in the event there is suspected intoxication, whether it's a car or a boat, you can't just let someone leave because they could injure themselves or others. I have heard the reports that he refused and he was let go. I've not verified that yet with law enforcement or not, but, yes, it's, you know, you just hope that's not true. But I definitely understand there are witnesses saying that for sure.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, Justin, wouldn't, you know, if the guy had gotten bui citation? I mean, wouldn't you.

[Justin Peterson]

There's been no charges filed that I'm aware of, Nancy, at this. I mean, we're weeks later.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

Dave.

[Nancy Grace]

Mac, what do you know about whether the speedboat or is it's being called a wakeboat was seized.

[Dave Mack]

The wake boat was seized the night of the accident. Nancy, you know, when I mentioned earlier that the deputies Sheriff's deputies had to go to the man's house and then bring him back to talk to Fish and Wildlife. The boat was seized that night. And while there is no official accounting of whether or not the Breathalyzer was denied or turned down, whether he refused that or not, there are witnesses that say he did refuse to take Breathalyzer.

[Nancy Grace]

Phil Odom wants in. Jump in, Phil.

[Phil Odom]

What law enforcement had this person in their hands to have him refuse a Breathalyzer? Why was the boat not seized at that point? Even if it was sinking, they should have seized the boat and put him on their vessel and then got the boat back. They should have never let that boat go. And if he refused a Breathalyzer, there's always a search warrant for a blood drop. I don't understand how he got back home after an incident like this and they let him go home. I'm from law enforcement. I try to side with them, but I can't understand why they would let him go.

[Nancy Grace]

You and me both, brother. That's what I'm screaming. What in the hay is going on in that jurisdiction? Tyler Beauchene, what do you think about what Phil Odom just said?

[Tyler Beauchene]

I mean, we're just. We're just baffled by how this happened and how he was allowed to leave the scene. There's people defending him all over the community, Facebook groups. There's people saying that, you know, he didn't leave the scene. When we have it on video happening, We've received threats for speaking out. The whole community is really split, and there's a lot of people that support this guy. It makes you wonder why he was allowed to leave the scene and why, you know, there haven't been any charges in over two weeks.

[Nancy Grace]

Following up with Tyler Beauchene, the witness who recorded the alleged driver of the speedboat high telling it they took off, apparently with people still in the back of the boat. Okay, there's so many problems right there. I can. Can barely identify all of them. But Tyler Bechame, you rightly called Fish and Wildlife, Fishing game, I believe you call it, and you handed over that video. Is it true, Tyler, that you spoke to law enforcement and they told you the driver of the speedboat refused the Breathalyzer?

[Tyler Beauchene]

That's correct, Nancy. My mother and I spoke to them, and he said that they. That he refused the breathalyzer and was released. He also confirmed that they had been allowed to remove the boat from the scene of the accident because it was sinking.

[Nancy Grace]

Joining us now, a renowned doctor, the chief medical examiner, Tarrant County. That's Fort Worth. Never a lack of business in the Fort Worth morgue. Dr. Kendall Crowns is not only the star of a hit podcast, Mayhem in the Morgue, he is an esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at tcu. He has performed literally thousands of autopsies, deaths of all natures. And there's only a few choices. You got natural causes like heart attack. You've got accident. You have homicide, of course, suicide and unexplained. Dr. Kelmer crowns, what do you believe happened to the deceased victim? Nazar. You got the other victim in a coma, the dad. Let's start with Nazar.

[Dr. Kendall Crowns]

So you have this wake boat hitting the pontoon boat at a high rate of speed. Obviously, since the wake boat still looked to be intact on the bow and the rest of the boat, it didn't crush into the pontoon boat. So it must have hit the pontoon boat, went up and into the cabin of the pontoon boat, and then continued over the top of it. Now, the people in the pontoon boat would have been struck by this high speed boat coming through. So you have many potential things that could happen. First, the bow of the boat could have potentially hit one of the individuals in the chest, possibly impaling them or causing a deep puncture wound into the chest before they fall off. If they don't get hit by the bow directly, they can be get a glancing blow, which can cause rib fractures. It can cause your liver to rupture, your spleen to rupture. The rib fractures can push into your lungs, cutting open your heart and your lungs themselves. So you'll get all hemorrhage from all that internally. The other thing that can happen is as the boat passes over, the prop can be spinning and it can actually. The props are usually quite large, similar to this size. And these prop wings or whatever you want to call them, the blades can cut into the skin and chop through the skin, cutting off the face, cutting through the chest and all the rest of the skin, creating deep incised wounds into the body that then can also create hemorrhage. And they can actually decapitate and cut limbs off as well, depending on how big the blades are on the prop. So you can have blunt force injuries as well as sharp force injuries when you're hit by a boat moving this fast of that nature.

[Religious Speaker/Prayer Leader]

This family is going through this difficult moment of their life, Lord, because our brother Nazar has departed from this earth, Lord, it's difficult without him. But I pray that you would comfort this family in this time. I pray that you would be their peace, their comfort and their joy. We read that he who began a good work will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. For Nazar, that day came earlier than we imagined.

[Justin Peterson]

Jesus said he went to prepare a

[Religious Speaker/Prayer Leader]

place for us and for Nazar that place was ready.

[Nancy Grace]

And I have no doubt that Christ did prepare that place in heaven for Nazar and that very day Nazar was with him in paradise. But that is not my concern tonight. Dr. Kendall Crowns, you outlined what you believe happened to 25 year old Nazar. You do know that my children are about to go to college. Nazar is just a few years older than them. You described the possibility that Nazar had flown over the top of the pontoon,

[Dr. Kendall Crowns]

that the boat coming over the top of the pontoon, hitting into the pontoon could have potentially hit him, causing him to go up over the wake boat or also being hit kind of glancing be shot off into the water. There's numerous possibilities depending on how the boat hit and how it hit him.

[Nancy Grace]

JUSTIN Peterson, what did the autopsy reveal as to Nazar's injuries? I assume they were catastrophic.

[Justin Peterson]

The coroner's not produced the autopsy yet. However, the children that were on the tube saw the boat hit them and those two little children had to have

[Nancy Grace]

what did they see?

[Justin Peterson]

The boat hit him, threw them into the water. It was the latter of what the doctor just described.

[Nancy Grace]

Dr. Kendall crowns what happened to the dad, the one in the coma.

[Dr. Kendall Crowns]

So I mean the fact that he's still alive, he probably took, took a hit from the boat coming in, hitting him. And he's probably, you can see it in the pictures. He's got bruising of his eyes that could be described as what we call raccoon eyes, which is associated with a basilar skull fracture or fracture at the base of the skull. So he probably gets hit by the boat as he's sitting in the pontoon boat getting head trauma. He probably also gets injuries to his chest, rib fractures, bruising and lacerations or cuts of his lungs and heart. But his injuries weren't severe enough for him to die immediately there at the scene. But from the pictures that you have, it does appear that he has significant head trauma and probably other internal organ damage and we'll see if he survives from that.

[Nancy Grace]

DAVE Mack, when was Nazar finally found?

[Dave Mack]

NANCY he was found two days after the accident on July 6, and he was found in 184ft of water.

[Nancy Grace]

Nancy the family waited two days knowing their child was floating. Well, he was found in 184ft of water. And I know when I dived 150ft, I had gone way too far. I can't imagine for 48 hours or longer they did not have Nazar's body. It had not been recovered.

[Justin Peterson]

You're exactly right, Nancy. It's been traumatizing on this family. And as you've seen from the videos, this family is religious based and they keep their faith in Christ. And that's what they had to hold on to for these two days while they suffered.

[Nancy Grace]

And yet, Justin Peterson, not even a B, U, I budding under the influence, A nothing, no citation, no anything has been lodged.

[Justin Peterson]

I've not been advised of any criminal charges being filed at this time. I do know there is an investigation underway. And you know Alex is still in a coma. You know he did. I will report that he was well enough two days ago to undergo brain surgery. The doctors have indicated that his vitals have improved. But, Nancy, what our ultimate hope is and what the family's hope is is that when Alex wakes up from this, in addition to all the physical and mental difficulties he's going to have, in addition to learning that his son is dead, that his grandchildren have night terrors, that his wife has a shattered arm, we hope that he wakes up to some type of accountability.

[Nancy Grace]

You know what, Justin Peterson, that's certainly putting perfume on the pig. Accountability. No, I want justice for Nazar. His father just had brain surgery. His wife's arm is shattered. No, no. Let me stress. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. And until that presumption of innocence is pierced by evidence brought forth by the state to pierce the presumption with guilty evidence proving that guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If you know or think you know anything regarding this case, I implore you to dial 859-623-2404. Repeat, 859-623-2404. Dollars not give law enforcement any excuse not to pursue this case. Did you hear Tyler Bouchain? She realized what she had on video and she voluntarily contacted Fish, Game and Wildlife. Will you do the same? When the dad wakes up from his coma, I want him to have answers. He doesn't even know his son is dead. Tonight we remember an American hero, Lieutenant Rebecca Buck, NYPD, who survived and died after September 11th attacks, leaving behind parents Donald and Ruth, American hero, Lieutenant Rebecca Buck. Thank you to our guests for being with us, but especially to you for joining us. And I ask that you join us in prayer for Nazar's family. Nancy Gray signing off for tonight. But I'll see you tomorrow night. And until then, good night, friend.

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[Nancy Grace]

Edu.

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