Boat’s Driver Pleads No Contest

A Maywood boat builder involved in a September 2003 accident on the Colorado River that killed three Orange County residents pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony negligent homicide charges and aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument -- his boat -- under a deal reached with prosecutors, an attorney for the victims said.

Grier D. Rush, 62, originally pleaded not guilty to those and other charges filed by prosecutors in La Paz County, Ariz. In exchange for his new plea, prosecutors dropped the felony count of fleeing the scene of a boating accident, said Mike Sutton, a lawyer representing the parents of Jonathan Herbert, 21, and his sister Jacquel, 18.

Rush will face up to 14 years in prison at his sentencing hearing, set for Sept. 17, Sutton said.

The Herbert children and their friend Ashley Rollins, 18, died of blunt-force trauma and drowning after the collision along the Parker Strip, a stretch of the river known for its party atmosphere. Their race boat was broadsided by Rush’s larger “cigarette”-style boat, which struck their bow, then passed over the boat. The lone survivor, Josh Rogers, 18, was hospitalized for weeks with serious injuries.

Test results showed that Jonathan, who was at the wheel, and his sister had no drugs or alcohol in their systems. Rollins had a blood-alcohol level of 0.02, the equivalent of about one beer.

Rush and his two passengers were not injured. Rush was not tested for alcohol or drugs because he fled the scene and turned himself in two days later, after learning that a warrant had been issued for his arrest, authorities said.

Sutton said the Herberts’ parents believe that by pleading no contest, Rush continues to shirk responsibility for the accident.

But, Sutton said, the Herberts will not have to endure a trial.