Nov. 28--A boat service provider's negligence led to a motorboat accident in Lake Michigan in May that killed three people, a lawsuit filed by one victim's mother alleges.
Sharon Haws, mother of Ashley Haws, filed suit Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court against Creative Yacht Management, doing business as SailTime Chicago, a boat owner member program.
According to its website, the company provides boat owners with various services, including maintenance and insurance.
The lawsuit alleges that the company failed to maintain, inspect, repair and equip the boat adequately, leading to the accident.
The lawsuit points out that SailTime did not own the 33-foot motorboat, saying that it was owned by Axess Holding Co. LLC. The boat was en route to Chicago from New Buffalo, Mich., about 7 p.m. May 31 when it experienced mechanical or electrical problems, "forcing its passengers to abandon ship miles from shore," according to the suit.
At the time of the accident that killed three of the four passengers, Coast Guard officials said the boat had no history of problems. It was not until 6 a.m. the next day that the only survivor, Shai Wolkowicki, was spotted adrift on life jackets about 6 miles off Chicago's shoreline and clutching a piece of the boat, which sank.
Haws, 26, was found unconscious a few hours later but died of hypothermia, according to an autopsy report at the time. Haws had received a law degree two years before and landed a job at a small firm in Chicago that specialized in family issues.
mmrodriguez@tribpub.com
