Barkus has no recollection of crash
The Daily Inter Lake
State Sen. Greg Barkus says he has no memory of the horrific boat crash on Flathead Lake that injured him and the four other people on board, including U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.
His last memory from the night of the crash was stepping into his boat after dinner at a Lakeside restaurant, then motoring across the lake back to the east shore, Barkus told the Inter Lake last month.
"I have no recollection of the accident whatever. It's surreal," said Barkus, R-Kalispell.
The veteran legislator was piloting his boat back toward Marina Cay, where Rehberg was staying, when it crashed into the steep, rocky shore along Wayfarers State Park about 10:20 p.m. on Aug. 27.
Prosecutors, who believe the boat was likely traveling more than 40 mph at impact, allege Barkus had a blood-alcohol level of at least .16 - or twice the legal limit for impairment - at the time of the crash.
But in a statement released Wednesday, Barkus and his attorney, Todd Glazier, said they "adamantly disagree" with the blood-alcohol levels in the state's charging document.
Barkus has yet to enter pleas to one count of criminal endangerment and two counts of negligent vehicular assault, all felonies.
Rehberg, whose blood-alcohol level was .05 three hours after the crash, told media last month that he saw no indication that Barkus was impaired when the collision occurred.
And Rehberg said in a statement Wednesday that he was surprised to learn the results of Barkus' blood-alcohol test.
"He didn't appear to be impaired to me when we got on the boat for the return trip to Bigfork," Rehberg said. "There is, of course, a presumption of innocence in our system of justice and the charges made today by the prosecutors are now in the hands of the court."
While Barkus remembers nothing after leaving The Docks restaurant in Lakeside following a reception for Rehberg, the Montana congressman recalls virtually everything until the crash.
He remembers the boat ride to the restaurant, talking with children at the group dinner about going to school, and the night-time boat ride back to the east shore and how chilly it was.
Barkus stood, driving the boat, while his wife, Kathy Barkus, sat at the top of some steps leading down into the cabin area, Rehberg recalled.
Rehberg said he was in the passenger's seat beside Greg Barkus. His deputy chief of staff, Kristin Smith, and state director, Dustin Frost, were in the back of the boat.
"Kristin got cold … She stood up and said 'I'm moving into the front,' " Rehberg said. "Ten seconds later we hit the rock."
Rehberg said they did not realize how close to shore the boat had approached before hitting the rocks.
"Greg's GPS didn't match up with the terrain. I looked up and he scrolled to a different picture on the GPS, he commented … and right at that time we dropped," Rehberg said.
When the boat came to rest, Rehberg said he and Kathy Barkus were still in the boat. Frost and Greg Barkus were in the water on the rocks, and Smith was the "most cognizant." She pointed campers staying at the park to the most seriously injured.
Crash experts with the Montana Highway Patrol used new software to reconstruct the collision, including an approximate speed at the time of impact. The software allows investigators, using measurements taken at the scene, to create a three-dimensional picture of the crash.
Investigators found that scrape marks and debris patterns indicate the boat, which was approaching land at about a 30-degree angle, hit some submerged rocks immediately off shore before pitching up onto the bank some distance north of the initial collision.
The boat, which had been traveling northeast, then slid a little ways back toward the water, but came to rest a few feet above the lake's surface.
Rehberg, Smith, and Kathy Barkus were released from Kalispell Regional Medical Center Aug. 31.
Rehberg, who was in the Flathead on an intense schedule of town-hall meetings and hospital visits to discuss health-care reform during Congress' August break, underwent a three-hour surgery for a broken ankle and suffered a fracture around his eye.
Smith suffered cuts to her face and head and several fractures, including her nose and wrist, while Kathy Barkus suffered cuts and bruises.
Frost, the most seriously injured, continues to recover from a severe closed head injury after spending several days in a coma.
Greg Barkus said last month he's facing a couple of months in a wheelchair, a lot of rehab work, some exercise and the possibility of a full recovery by next summer.
He spent 2 1/2 days at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for pelvic surgery and came home with three subcutaneous screws pinning his pelvic bones together.
He's also on the mend from a couple of fractured ribs, a possible hairline fracture in his right ankle, cuts on his legs and a painful left knee. Seattle surgeons discovered debris inside the knee was causing the inflammation and pain, so irrigated and re-stitched the wound.