OSHKOSH — A 54-year-old Oshkosh man who crashed his boat into a two-story paddleboat cruise on the Fox River in 2022 must pay more than $11,000 in restitution, a judge ordered in court Wednesday.
Jason Lindemann was convicted of two felonies and 12 misdemeanors after a jury trial in June. In August, Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge Michael Gibbs sentenced Lindemann to five months in jail and three years of probation, during which time Lindemann must complete 150 hours of community service.
At the sentencing hearing, court officials decided the amount of money Lindemann owes victims would be determined at a later date, and scheduled the restitution hearing for Jan. 22.
Between costs owed to multiple victims, Lindemann was ordered to pay a total restitution of $11,702.79, with more than $10,600 paid out to multiple victims and an approximately $1,063 surcharge fee, court records say.
What charges were Lindemann convicted of?
After an eight-day jury trial in June, Lindemann was convicted of two felony counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, 11 misdemeanor counts of failing to render aid in a boating accident resulting in injury and one misdemeanor count of negligent operation of a boat.
The jury found Lindemann not guilty of one additional charge of failing to render aid in a boating accident resulting in injury.
What are the details of the crash?
Around 10 p.m. July 9, 2022, Lindemann crashed his 38-foot-long powerboat into the side of a double-decker paddleboat that was owned and operated by On The Loos Cruises. The two boats were on the Fox River in Oshkosh, between the Oregon Street and Wisconsin Street bridges.
Aboard the paddleboat cruise were 41 passengers and three crew members. Lindemann had six passengers with him on the powerboat.
According to a criminal complaint and testimony at trial, Lindemann was headed directly toward the paddleboat, then swerved to the right just before the crash, striking the paddleboat’s left side and causing damage to its deck.
No one was severely injured, but multiple people received treatment for injuries in the days and weeks after the crash.
According to testimony of multiple witnesses at trial, Lindemann briefly pulled up alongside the paddleboat after the crash, but then drove away, despite shouts and pleas from people on the paddleboat and nearby boats for him to stop his boat.
Some witnesses said they saw Lindemann turn his lights off. He then dropped off some of his passengers, one of whom was injured, and returned to Lake Winnebago where he and two passengers spent some of the night, according to evidence presented at trial.
Multiple passengers who were on Lindemann’s boat at the time of the crash told investigators they had been drinking with Lindemann at his bar, the Dockside Tavern, located at 425 Nebraska St., before the crash.
Prosecutors pointed to evidence that Lindemann was intoxicated when he crashed his boat. Lindemann’s attorney argued at trial that no evidence existed to suggest alcohol was a factor in the crash, and that the paddleboat’s exterior party lights caused it to blend in with bright lights along the shoreline, making visibility challenging for Lindemann.
At Lindemann’s sentencing in August, Gibbs said evidence exists Lindemann “was drinking something.”
“Not sure how much, not sure if he was drunk. I’m not sure, because he fled the scene,” Gibbs said at the sentencing hearing.
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Lindemann’s boat was located the morning after the crash at Pioneer Marina, 1100 Pioneer Drive in Oshkosh. Marina employees contacted law enforcement after finding the unauthorized boat parked there. When investigators arrived, they observed damage to the powerboat, as well as what appeared to be dried blood and a decoration from the paddleboat on board, the complaint says.
Officers determined the boat was registered to Sweetwater Performance Center-Marina, a boat dealer owned by Lindemann.
At Lindemann’s sentencing hearing in August, On the Loos Cruises owner Jeff Loos said the paddleboat company had been left unable to operate since the crash over two years earlier.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Man convicted of 2022 powerboat-paddleboat crash ordered to pay victims
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