Marine police: Boat driver admits to consuming alcohol on day of crash
Boy remains hospitalized
by Larry S. Chowning
Steven Wayne Nixon, the driver of the boat that crashed into a channel marker on July 5 in the Rappahannock River, admitted to a Virginia Marine Police officer that he was drinking alcoholic beverages “intermittently” throughout the day of the crash, according to a search warrant filed in Gloucester County Circuit Court.
Virginia Marine Police officer J.H. Richardson filed the warrant, which seeks the alcohol level results of a blood sample taken from Nixon at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester County within hours following the boat accident.
The search warrant states that Steven Nixon has admitted to driving the “vessel that struck the steel stanchions of the No. 10 channel marker, resulting in one fatality and numerous injuries to the other passengers.”
The crash resulted in the death of 25-year-old Amanda Brady of Glen Allen and injuries, some serious, to the other nine people aboard the 22-foot Chaparral bow-rider.
The warrant states, “The adult passengers of the vessel, Angela Nixon, Patrick Nixon and Kelly Nixon, stated that Steve Nixon was operating the vessel at the time of the accident and he had been consuming alcohol prior to the offense.”
Also, according to the warrant, “Steve Nixon stated that he had been consuming alcohol intermittently throughout the day.”
The warrant states that both Coast Guard Chief Gonzalez and Marine Police Officer Richardson observed Steven Nixon sitting injured in the driver’s seat of the boat and there was a “strong odor of alcohol with beer cans strewn about the deck.”
The search warrant was filed by Officer Richardson and certified to the Clerk of Gloucester County Circuit Court because Nixon’s blood sample was taken at Riverside Walter Reed in Gloucester County.
The search warrant was executed at 10:18 a.m. on July 8.
VMRC spokesperson John Bull said the results from the blood tests are expected to take several weeks.
On Tuesday, July 13, Bull said the boat crash is still under investigation. “The marine police are actively and fully investigating every aspect and want to thoroughly understand everything that transpired that night,” he said.
All the injury victims have been released from the hospital except an 11-year-old boy, Zach Nixon, who received a serious head injury. “I understand that he is better but he is not out of the woods yet,” he said.
Zach Nixon is the son of boat operator Steven Nixon.
Bull said that if charges are filed, the Lancaster County Commonwealth’s Attorney office will handle the case. He noted there was some confusion as to which county, Lancaster or Middlesex, had jurisdiction in the case, but it has been officially decided that Lancaster will handle any prosecution.
Bull had earlier indicated any charges would be filed in Middlesex, but the incident happened on the Lancaster side of the river, he noted.
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