Warrant is issued in Priest Lake boat crash case

SANDPOINT — An arrest warrant was issued Friday for a Seattle man charged in connection with a boat collision on Priest Lake that injured three people last summer.

Judge Barbara Buchanan issued the warrant after Todd Frederick Stauber failed to heed a criminal summons and appear in court and face the charge.

The case against Stauber is sealed and will remain so until he makes an initial court appearance, although Bonner County sheriff’s officials have indicated that the investigation involved negligent operation of a vessel.

The crash happened on July 4 at Luby Bay, shortly after the conclusion of a fireworks display.

Preliminary accounts of the crash indicated that a ski boat collided with a 31-foot cabin cruiser broadside at speed. Five people were aboard the speedboat and two were aboard the cabin cruiser.

Bonner County EMS officials said one person was flown by Life Flight to Kootenai Medical Center with serious head trauma.

 Two others were driven to Newport Community Hospital with injuries that were said to be not life-threatening.

It’s not clear if Stauber, 38, was among the injured.

Court records indicate Stauber was also cited for operating an unnumbered 1987 Supreme ski boat on the day of the collision.

A $72 default judgment was entered against Stauber after he failed to contest the infraction.