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New details revealed on weekend's fatal Tickfaw River boat crash; charges could potentially be filed
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SPRINGFIELD — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Tuesday that it is treating the weekend's fatal boat crash on Tickfaw River as a criminal investigation.
Sgt. Randy Lanoux said a 25-foot Sea Fox boat crashed into a 25-foot pontoon boat shortly after midnight Sunday morning.
“The Sea Fox hit the pontoon boat what we consider to be mid-vessel. (For) lack of a better term, it T-boned it. The Sea Fox ramped the pontoon boat, slid back off and rolled over and it sank,” Lanoux said.
The crash took the lives of Thuy Gustin, 31, a passenger of the Sea Fox boat, and Chase Sharkey, 36, who was operating the pontoon boat.
Lanoux said they found that both boats had running lights over the course of the investigation into the crash. Toxicology screenings were performed on both Sharkey and the surviving operator of the Sea Fox boat. Lanoux said it could take a couple of weeks to receive the results.
“Just wait till the facts come out, the official facts. We’re going to find the truth. I promise you we are going to find the truth,” Lanoux said.
Lanoux said the agency is in the early phase of its investigation, saying that agents are starting to interview witnesses.
According to Wildlife and Fisheries, agents were notified at about 12:17 a.m. Sunday about a two-vessel collision in the Tickfaw River near Kings Point.
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