A terrible tragedy occurred after a wealthy couple allegedly allowed their 15-year-old son to take his friend on a speedboat without any adults on board.
Anjan and Katherine Tharakan were hosting a party on March 3 when their teenage son, Christian, invited Collin Moorefield out on the waters of Tampa Bay on his 18-foot boat, the Key West, without any adults, according to a lawsuit filed by Collin’s mother, Breck.
Christian allegedly drove the boat at a top speed of 43.5 mph and crashed into a dock while looking at his phone to change the music, the lawsuit says. according to the Sun Herald.
The impact sent both children flying, and Collin remained underwater until a good Samaritan and a St. Petersburg police officer found him. He was then rushed to a hospital, where he died from drowning and blunt force trauma.
Breck now claims the Tharakans should have known Christian, now 16, was “ill-equipped, inexperienced or both” to operate the speedboat alone, without supervision or oversight.
Collin Moorefield, 15, died in a boating accident in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 3.
The wrongful death lawsuit also suggests Christian was under the influence of alcohol while operating the speedboat and blames the teen’s parents for failing to ensure he was sober and that there was no alcohol on the boat before it departed.
He claims Christian was hovering over dozens of docks before finally crashing.
‘Distracted and inhibited by alcohol, (Christian) drove the Key West south, narrowly missing a pier before crashing violently and forcefully into the next pier,’ the lawsuit claims. according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Surveillance video footage of the accident showed the boat hitting the dock’s support poles and bouncing off another boat that was elevated on a lift, police said at the time.
The speedboat eventually stopped about four houses away and a passerby turned off the engine and tied her up.
Moorefield’s parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Anjan and Katherine Tharakan, and their son Christian, now 16.
But police never found alcohol on board the boat and Christian showed no signs of impairment, according to a report from the St. Petersburg Police Department.
The court also issued a subpoena for Christian’s medical records after the crash, but his family objected at the time, Pinellas County court records show.
Christian, who had a boater safety ID card, later admitted he was “speeding a little bit” at the time of the crash and said his phone disconnected from speakerphone so he looked down to reconnect it.
He told officers he thought he may have hit the boat’s wheel, and said after the crash he began to wade through the water trying to find his friend before other bystanders joined in.
Collin was eventually located at the bottom of the water near the end of the pier by a neighbor, put on a pair of goggles and jumped into the water, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Christian crashed a speedboat into a dock at high speed, sending himself and Moorefield flying.
The Moorefields are now suing Christian for one count of neglect, and are suing his parents for one count of negligent trust each.
In response, the Tharakans filed their own lawsuit in federal court on Monday seeking to limit the amount of damages they could be forced to pay to just the value of the boat — about $50,000.
That means the Moorefields will have to prove the parents were directly negligent if they want to receive more money.
Meanwhile, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s investigation into the fatal accident remains ongoing and Neither Christian nor his parents have yet been charged with any crime.
The State Prosecutor’s Office He told Fox 13 He is in communication with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and “there is some additional evidence that needs to be gathered, which is common in a case like this.”
‘Once that additional evidence is gathered, prosecutors review all of the evidence compiled to make a decision on whether to file the case.’
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