Lisle man charged after fatal Fox River boat collision

Authorities arrested 45-year-old Richard Stevenson of Lisle early Sunday and charged him with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence after a pontoon he was operating collided with another boat on the Fox River near McHenry County on Saturday afternoon. Video captured by nearby residents showed the pontoon traveling at roughly 70 miles per hour before the impact, which occurred around 3 p.m.

Four people were on the two vessels. The occupants of the struck boat included a woman who died and another passenger who was taken to a hospital in critical condition. The pontoon carried two people; one suffered non-life-threatening injuries while Stevenson fled the scene and was later apprehended.

"It's becoming more common, but in my opinion it seems a little bit overkill," said Ben Brandano of Boat Safe Chicago, noting that three-engine pontoons can be overpowering at high speeds.

"You can see that boat even skip in the flat surface of the water too," Brandano added.

"This is a dangerous part of the river. It's very narrow as far as the river goes, and then the speeding around the corners here, it's kind of a blind corner as you're coming around," said local resident Bob Sexton.

"You have less maneuverability at high speed, so if any of those boats in front of him were to change course or he wasn't paying attention, didn't see, there's a chance of something like this happening," Brandano said.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is conducting an investigation, and Stevenson is scheduled to appear in McHenry County Court on Monday.