Tragedy Hits Home:
Crash Brings Queens Boating Safety
To The Forefront

By Angela Montefinise

All charges have been dropped against the 18-year-old Douglas Manor resident who was accused of causing a fatal boat accident on Little Neck Bay last week, in what the Queens District Attorney’s office is now calling a tragic accident.

A police search for two people missing after a boat crash in Little Neck Bay ended in tragedy this week, shocking the quiet neighborhood of Douglas Manor. PRESS Photo By Ira Cohen

According to a spokesperson from the Queens District Attorney’s office, Robert Arnold was cleared of all three BWI (Boating While Intoxicated) charges on July 18.  The teen had refused a breathalyzer test at the scene of the accident, but a court-ordered blood alcohol test administered four hours after the July 11 incident showed he was not legally intoxicated on the night of the crash.

The spokesperson said, “The facts showed he was not BWI. That’s all we can say.”

The spokesperson could not comment on whether or not the DA would be pursuing any other charges in the future in reference to the crash.

As the sun glistened on a calm Little Neck Bay this week, a storm cloud of shock and intrigue hovered over neighboring Douglas Manor, where residents have been overwhelmed and confused by a tragic boat accident that claimed the lives of two people.

The accident, which occurred in Little Neck Bay on July 11, was the only topic of conversation at the Douglaston Yacht Club in Douglas Manor this week, with members strongly defended 18-year-old Robert Arnold, who was originally accused of causing the horrific accident by drinking before operating his mother’s 18-foot Sea Ray boat.

Although a court-ordered blood alcohol test showed he was not legally intoxicated, fingers were still pointing at Arnold, who was allegedly speeding and doing 360s in the Marina before the boat he was operating reportedly slammed into another boat. 17-year-old Little Neck resident George Lawrence and 35-year-old Elmont resident John Kondogianis died in the crash.

Questions have surfaced about the safety of boating in Little Neck Bay, where more and more teenagers are driving and licenses are not required. And as the PRESS went to press, questions remained about the contents of the boat that was hit and the criminal record of the boat driver who was killed.

A boating safety expert told the PRESS that Arnold still may have been breaking some rules of the water, and police said he could still be charged with reckless endangerment.

Coast Guard Auxiliary member Jacqueline Macinick, Immediate Past Commander of Flotilla 12-08, has taught boating safety classes at Fort Totten for the past four years, and participated in the search and rescue operation following the last week’s crash. She explained that the crash happened “on the borderline” of the Marina’s “no wake zone,” which is an area of the Bay where speeds of over five miles per hour are not allowed for fear that the waves created by higher speeds will disturb docked boats.

Macinick said, “From what I heard about the crash, and from the wreckage that I saw, this boy was driving extremely close to that no wake zone. He may have been outside of it, though, which means he was in open water, and can do basically whatever he wants. I can do 360s all day if I’m in open water.”

Another rule Macinick said Arnold might have been close to breaking is a New York State regulation that requires boats to travel five-miles-per-hour or less if they are 100 feet or less from the shore. Police reports say the crash happened about 100 feet from shore. Macinick said, “If he was 100 feet from shore or less, he should have been driving a lot slower than he was. But again, it’s right on the border.”

Macinick said Arnold may have also broken a Federal boating safety regulation, administered by the Office of Boating Safety, which states that boaters can be charged a civil penalty and can face up to $5,000 in criminal fines and a year in prison if they drive in a “grossly negligent fashion,” including, “operating at excessive speed in the vicinity of boats in dangerous waters.”

The accident was the first boat crash in New York State this year, and the first at Bayside Marina in “recent memory,” according to a manager at the Marina.

While police told the PRESS that patrols of Little Neck Bay will be stepped up, Macinick said legislation is in the works to help keep boating safe in New York State. A State Assembly bill has been introduced that requires anyone under the age of 18 to have a safety certificate to operate a boat, while another Assembly bill is trying to require a boating safety certificate from every boater in Nassau and Suffolk County. Both are being evaluated by the Legislature.

While new pieces of information continue to surface each day to complicate the story – including the discovery of drugs on Kondogianis’ boat – the residents of the Manor have held the same position since the controversy first hit their town – their boy is innocent.

Arnold, a recent graduate of Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside and a National Merit Scholar who was supposed to start college at SUNY New Paltz this fall, was described as “a nice boy,” “a sweetheart,” “a good kid,” “a responsible and careful young man,” and “a real smart guy” by members of the Yacht Club, where he worked as a waiter previously.

Friends of Arnold’s at the club said he, “loves getting out on the bay and driving his boat,” and “is an excellent driver.” One friend said, “Robert just can’t get enough of being out there ... He can command his boat, that’s for sure. And he would never do anything irresponsible.

 On a night described as “clear as anything,” by employees at Bayside Marina, Arnold and five friends took his mom’s 18-foot Sea Ray into Little Neck Bay, moving at “excessive speeds,” according to a police source, and doing “360s,” about 100 feet from shore.

The teenager continued to drive the boat in that manor until about 9:45 p.m., when he allegedly slammed into a Bayliner carrying Kondogianis, 35, and his wife Marisa Rodgers, 29, “almost splitting their boat in two,” police said.

Kondogianis was immediately thrown into Little Neck Bay, and was found in the shallow waters off Fort Totten on July 15 by a local boat operator. Arnold’s best friend Lawrence was also thrown into the water, and was found near the Throgs Neck Bridge by Nassau County Police also on July 15.

Rodgers sustained serious head injuries and was admitted to North Shore University Hospital in critical condition. At presstime, she was still listed in critical condition, but no other information was available. Arnold’s friend 17-year-old Kevin Burke – a passenger in Arnold’s boat – was treated for minor injuries from the accident at New York Hospital Medical Center Queens, and was released on July 15.  Arnold and the three other passengers in his boat walked away from the accident. 

At the scene of the accident, police said that Arnold’s breath smelled like alcohol, and the Queens District Attorney’s office said they found “some beer bottles,” in the back of Arnold’s boat. Arnold refused a breathalyzer test at the scene, but was given a court-ordered blood alcohol test about four hours after the incident.

The teenager was charged on three counts of Boating While Intoxicated (BWI), and pled not guilty. On July 15, the results of his test showed that he had a blood alcohol content of .01 percent – under the .06 percent needed to be considered legally intoxicated. Police are still waiting to see if Arnold was under the influence of drugs, but if not, a police source said, “It will be awfully tough to charge him for manslaughter or something criminally. If he wasn’t under the influence, then this was just an accident and he wasn’t doing anything illegal.”

Lawrence’s mother Deborah made a public statement through a lawyer that she doesn’t believe Arnold is responsible for her son’s death, and a friend of his standing on the dock at Bayside Marina said, “What should he be punished for? He’s punished enough. He lost his best friend.”

While beer bottles were found on Arnold’s boat, a police source told the PRESS that crack cocaine was found on Kondogianis’ boat, adding another complex piece to the puzzle.

The drugs were found in the wreckage of the boat, and prompted the release of Queens Supreme Court records that show Kondogianis was arrested and pled guilty in 2000 for selling drugs and was arrested in 1999 for possessing drug paraphernalia, marijuana and a controlled substance.

Police sources say they are still not sure if the drugs are relevant to the events surrounding the accident, or lead any credibility to the story that the boat’s lights were out. A police source said, “It’s still under investigation. Those drugs and his past may be completely irrelevant. There’s too much to consider right now to make a determination.”

While law enforcement officials search for answers, friends and family members of Lawrence and Kondogianis are scheduled to say goodbye to them this coming week, with Lawrence’s funeral scheduled for July 19 at St. Anastasia’s Church in Little Neck and Kondogianis’ funeral scheduled for July 20 at St. Mary’s Nativity Church in Flushing.

At presstime, family members of both victims were unavailable for comment.