The Region - News from May 21, 1985

The driver of a 20-foot pleasure boat that crashed into an unlighted buoy in Anaheim Bay last October, killing five people and injuring four, has filed a negligence lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court against the Navy, the City of Seal Beach and Orange County. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Virl Earles, 29, of Seal Beach, contended that the Navy and other authorities were negligent in maintaining the 1,000-pound buoy off the Seal Beach shoreline. The suit alleged that the buoy, in addition to not being lighted, was not shown on charts. Earles, who suffered leg, arm and ankle fractures and a colon puncture, is seeking an unspecific amount in the suit. Earles was charged in March by the Orange County district attorney’s office with five counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of operating a boat while under the influence of alcohol. An investigation by the Sheriff’s Department found that Earles’ blood alcohol level was 0.11%, enough to charge a motorist with driving under the influence of alcohol, but Dana Denton, Earles’ lawyer, has said that no such legal standard exists for boaters.