Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary’s wife, Linda O’Leary, had alcohol on her breath the night of a fatal boat crash on Ontario’s Lake Joseph in August, according to new documents in the investigation. The news comes just weeks after the family of Susanne Brito, one of the victims, filed a wrongful death la suit against the O’Leary’s claiming that they drove their boat impaired.
In documents obtained by Canadian news outlet, CBC News, police state that an alcohol screening test was administered to Linda following the accident and it registered an alert, though her blood-alcohol level was not revealed.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“Mrs. O’Leary was administered an alcohol screening device test and registered an alert. She was subsequently served a three-day driver’s licence suspension,” Ontario Provincial Police allege in the documents. “Mrs. O’Leary claims to have consumed a drink of vodka following the collision and prior to the breath test.”
Under Ontario law, a blood-alcohol concentration between 0.05 and 0.08 percent typically warrants a three-day suspension and it is a criminal offense to drive at all with a concentration of 0.08 percent or higher.
Documents also show that video evidence will be examined to “provide corroborating evidence of the operator of the vessel and the possibility that Linda O’Leary was consuming alcohol following the collision.”
Linda’s lawyer, Brian Greenspan, is largely disputing suggestions that the fatal crash was the result of alcohol, denying allegations that Linda was intoxicated at the time.
“This tragic accident had nothing to do with alcohol,” Greenspan wrote in a statement. “Linda O’Leary was not impaired; she is a highly experienced boater who was proceeding cautiously with due care and attention. She collided with a totally unlit boat on a moonless night which was invisible to any prudent operator. No one could have avoided the collision.”
In early November, Brito’s family officially filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that the Shark Tank star and his wife were “incapable of safely operating their boat because their judgment was impaired by alcohol, drugs or fatigue.”
The O’Leary’s have not yet responded to the allegations, nor have they responded to the newly released documents.
Linda is currently facing a charge of careless operation of a vessel, as authorities determined that she was driving her vessel at an unsafe speed of 17 miles per hour when it crashed into a larger vessel at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 24. She faces a maximum fine of $10,000 and no jail time.
Richard Ruh, the driver of the second vessel, is facing a charge of failure to exhibit a navigation light.
