Two Charged In Separate Housatonic Accidents

By Andrew Gorosko

Two people who were in separate serious boating accidents on the Housatonic River during the summer, one of them involving a death, have been arrested  on various charges by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) law enforcement unit.

DEEP spokeswoman Cyndy Chanaca said this week that the arrests stem from separate investigations conducted by DEEP’s environmental conservation boating accident reconstruction unit.

On September 13, Regan B. Youngberg, 48, of 11 Whitewood Road was arrested on a warrant on five charges stemming from a July 30 incident in which Nicholette R. Murray, 18, of Yonkers, N.Y., died, according to Ms Chanaca.

DEEP charged Youngberg with first-degree reckless operation of a vessel, reckless water skiing, and failure to designate an observer while water skiing. Additionally, Youngberg was charged with failure to display a boating registration decal and with failure to carry a boating registration.

Youngberg was processed on the charges and was released on a written promise to appear on September 26 in Danbury Superior Court, Ms Chanaca said.

The accident that resulted in Murray’s death due to accidental drowning occurred at about 5 pm on July 30 on the Lake Lillinonah section of the river.

“The girl was engaged in a water sport, at first thought to be water skiing but now likely to have been wake boarding, when her line apparently became entangled in the propeller of the boat that was towing her,” according to a DEEP statement.

Murray reportedly was pulled underwater after the tow line to which she was connected had somehow become ensnared in the tow boat’s propeller.

Following the accident, Murray was transported to Danbury Hospital where she was pronounced dead. She was at the lake with family and friends at the time of the incident.

The incident occurred downriver of the town boat launch, which is at 196 Hanover Road.

Zoar Incident

In connection with a boating accident that occurred on the Lake Zoar section of the river late on the night of July 5, the DEEP law enforcement unit has arrested a 22-year-old man on three charges.

Anthony J. Buzzanca of Denver, Colo., was charged on a warrant on September 12 with first-degree reckless boating while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, second-degree reckless boating, and failure to maintain a proper lookout, according to Ms Chanaca.

When it initially reported the boating accident in July, DEEP listed Buzzanca as an Easton resident.

The accident occurred along the Southbury shoreline of the river, near the northern boundary of Kettletown State Park, but the most direct emergency services access to the scene was provided from a boat landing near the Cedarhurst section of Newtown.

“Eleven people were on board the vessel which hit the rocky shoreline abutting Kettletown State Park in Southbury. A total of seven passengers on board the vessel were transported to the area hospital with injuries,” DEEP said in a statement.

The 11 people had been traveling on a 21-foot-long MasterCraft ski boat when the accident occurred in darkness. None of the eleven people were Newtown residents. Most reside in other towns in the region.

Buzzanca’s case is being adjudicated in Waterbury Superior Court.