Claims Denied in Fatal Crash of Boat Out of Newport
The City Council has denied legal claims filed by two Orange County residents stemming from a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island that killed two men and injured three others last December.
The claims allege that a Harbor Patrol officer observed the pilot of a 19-foot fishing boat drunk and cruising at high speeds but failed to take any action before it crashed on rocks off the coast.
One of the claims was filed by Newport Beach resident Mary Glose, whose husband, William Glose, 33, and son, Sean Caudillo, 22, were killed. Both men were passengers on the Impulse out of Newport Beach, which crashed on the rocks off Lovers Cove, on the island’s east coast. The claim sought an unspecified amount for wrongful death and other expenses.
A separate claim, seeking $275,000, was filed by David Wilken of Costa Mesa, a passenger on the boat who survived the crash.
The men were among four passengers aboard the boat, piloted and owned by Alfred Gausewitz. The claim alleges that a Harbor Patrol officer should have warned or stopped the boat before it left Avalon Harbor.
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