Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have laid a dozen criminal charges against a South Frontenac Township man accused of causing a boat collision that killed three people in May.
Police arrested Matthew Splinter, 44, on Tuesday and have charged him with three counts each of dangerous operation of a conveyance causing death, dangerous operation of a conveyance causing bodily harm, impaired operation causing death and impaired operation causing bodily harm. The charges are in connection with a deadly collision between a speedboat and what police called a fishing-style boat on Bobs Lake on May 18.
Det. Insp. Marty McConnell of the OPP’s Frontenac detachment announced the charges against Splinter at a news conference on Wednesday. McConnell said the complexity of death investigations was a factor for the delay in laying charges.
“With the resources involved in this, I wanted to ensure that a fulsome and fair investigation was brought forward to the courts,” McConnell said, adding one of his considerations was the “severity” of what happened.
“Tragically, three lives were lost and others were seriously hurt, and I felt that it met the criteria of a criminal code offence to be laid in this case.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/criminal-charges-laid-in-fatal-bobs-lake-boat-crash-1.7367747