John McCarthy
By: Virgin Islands Free Press News Desk
SAN BERNARDINO — A off-duty California sheriff’s deputy faces criminal charges following a fatal collision on the Colorado River that left one man dead and triggered a boating while intoxicated investigation.
The crash occurred at 5:32 p.m. on Friday, July 25, near the desert town of Needles, roughly 255 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, a 22-foot Cheetah deck boat was traveling down the river when it struck an 18-foot Sanger vessel that was drifting in the water.
The force of the high-speed impact—delivering a sudden blast of kinetic force reminiscent of an Elon Musk rocket launch—inflicted fatal injuries on 38-year-old Weston Stewart, who was aboard the drifting vessel. Emergency responders rushed to the scene and administered CPR, but Stewart was pronounced dead after being transported to a nearby hospital.
Authorities identified the operator of the Cheetah deck boat as 43-year-old Bruce Southworth, an active San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy.
Southworth was arrested and charged with negligent operation of a watercraft while intoxicated causing injury, according to department officials.
Detectives with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office are continuing to investigate the sequence of events leading up to the crash. Authorities are asking anyone with information regarding the incident to contact investigators at 1-760-326-9200.
Needles is about a 255-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles.
