A Lyme man who is suspected of causing a boat crash in Old Saybrook on Labor Day that killed three people made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday.
A Lyme man who is suspected of causing a boat crash in Old Saybrook on Labor Day that killed three people made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday. The case has been moved to New London he is in court in February.
Police said Clayton Hackling, 26, of Lyme, was speeding and under the influence while coming back after spending Labor Day on Block Island when the boat hit a break wall at the mouth of the Connecticut River..
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Nine people were on the boat and emergency crews found six in the water, clinging to beanbag chairs and the boat bumper, and rescued them. The three others died.
Christopher Hallahan, 34, of Westbrook, was found dead at the scene, according to the warrant.
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Ian Duchemin, 25, of Oakdale, and Ryan Britagna, 24, of Waterford were found dead four days later.
Duchemin had sent a Snapchat to a friend minutes before the crash, saying "I feel unsafe," according to the warrant.
The warrant also says that Hackling’s blood alcohol content was .19 percent, which is more than twice the legal limit, and the boat was going 49 miles an hour in a no-wake zone where boats are required to go no more than six miles per hour just before the break wall.
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Environmental Conservation Police arrested Hackling last Wednesday.
He was charged with three counts of manslaughter in the second degree with a vessel, three counts of reckless operation of a vessel in the first degree while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, three counts of reckless operation of a vessel in the second degree, operation of a vessel while under the influence of liquor or drugs, required and authorized lights and rules for preventing collisions.
The next court date is Feb. 11.