An Illinois man is behind bars after prosecutors say he ploughed his pontoon into a smaller boat on a river over the weekend. He reportedly drove drunk at roughly 80 mph through a no-wake zone, killing a woman and injuring her husband.

Richard Stevenson, 45, allegedly slammed his 31-foot pontoon into the back of a 20-foot Crownline boat on Saturday afternoon, then rode straight over it.

A 48-year-old unnamed woman riding in the passenger seat was killed in the collision; her husband was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition and placed on life support.

According to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, Stevenson now faces three felony charges, including reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence causing death. He appeared in court on Monday for the first time, where prosecutors laid out the timeline leading up to the crash and his long rap sheet of traffic offenses.

The collision occurred around 2.30 p.m. near the 1800 block of South Fernwood Lane, south of McHenry Dam. As officers arrived at the scene, they found Stevenson’s pontoon run aground on the riverbank nearby. According to prosecutors, he was found in the trees off the shoreline, not far from where the boat had come to a stop.

 

Stevenson was taken to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, where a blood draw reportedly put his blood alcohol concentration at .200, which is about two and a half times the legal limit. Authorities say he initially refused field sobriety testing, a breath test, and a court-ordered blood draw.

According to security footage from a home along the river, Stevenson’s speeding pontoon reportedly headed south before moving north almost two hours later. The family who owns the cameras told investigators that about a minute after seeing him again, they heard the crash.

Witnesses also told police Stevenson had been drinking throughout the day while piloting the boat. Two other people aboard the boat left the scene before police arrived at the scene, though they were interviewed later.

“This man was a ticking time-bomb, and that bomb went off this past Saturday on the Fox River,” Deputy Chief Brian Miller said at the hearing. McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese added, “Our rivers and lakes should be places where families can safely enjoy time together, not places where the reckless and impaired can turn a summer day into a tragedy.”

Prosecutors also presented Stevenson’s record between 1997 and 2005: three prior DUI arrests, three reckless driving offenses, and four misdemeanor speeding tickets.

Judge Cynthia D. Lamb denied releasing Stevenson ahead of his trial, according to Fox32. He is due back in court on August 5.

Disclaimer: Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available.