RIVERRATMIKE
Taurus
River House Owner/0 Miles From Havasu!
  
Lake Havasu City/Parker, AZ
Posts: 2,764
APPD 0.35
Post Rank: 23
1986 28ft Chris Craft Stinger
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Posted: Oct. 03 2003,1:22 am |
Post # 1 |
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Man accused of fatal hit-and-run gets bond reduction
By Joan Travis
PARKER - A California man who allegedly left the scene of a triple-fatal boat collision told a witness, “I killed them. I killed those kids,†according to testimony presented Thursday during his preliminary hearing.
At the hearing, Rush Grier, 62, owner of Rush Performance Boats and a resident of Maywood, Calif., requested and was granted a bond reduction from $1 million to $100,000 in Parker Justice Court.
Sgt. Alan Nelson, an investigator for the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office, said he talked to a witness at Fox’s Resort following the Sept. 19 collision that killed three young people.
The witness, who knew Rush, saw the boat manufacturer walking toward him. He told Nelson that he asked Rush if he was OK. Rush responded, saying he had “killed those kids.â€
Defense attorney Ron Cordova asked Nelson, “Since you didn’t know him (Rush), you wouldn’t have known if he was there?â€
Nelson stated he was there to observe what was going on.
Asking Judge John Drum for the bond reduction, Cordova said Rush had been a lifelong resident of Maywood and a Parker visitor for the last 40 years.
“My client will be at every court hearing. The $1 million bond is excessive. I request a $100,000 bond,†Cordova stated.
Drum conferred with County Attorney Glenn Buckelew and the reduction was granted. Family members of the victims were visibly upset with the bond reduction.
Rush was still in the county jail late Thursday.
Drum set Rush’s arraignment for Oct. 14 in the county superior court.
Authorities allege that Rush was driving one of his own performance boats when it struck another vessel, resulting in the death of three young people and seriously injuring a teenager.
Killed in the Parker Strip collision were Ashley Rollins, 18, of Mission Viejo, Calif., and siblings, Jonathan, 21, and Jaquel Herbert, 18, of Laguna Hills, Calif. A fourth victim, Josh Rogers, 18, was airlifted to a Phoenix hospital.
According to the La Paz County Sheriff, Rush left the scene and returned to California. He is charged with a Class 5 felony, failure to stop after a watercraft collision that results in death or serious physical injury.
At a previous hearing, Drum told Rush that, if convicted, he would face a minimum of one year in prison, with the maximum at 2 1/2 years.
In testimony Thursday, Nelson described the accident scene and the steps he took in trying to locate Rush. He told the courtroom he was contacted one day after the accident by Rush’s attorney Cordova.
Nelson stated Cordova wanted to know if the sheriff’s office wanted to contact Rush for investigative or criminal reasons. Nelson told the attorney it would be in Rush’s best interest to return to La Paz County and turn himself in.
Rush and his attorney returned to Parker in the afternoon two days after the collision.
Cordova claimed the charge against Rush had not been established — the statute doesn’t state he (Rush) should remain at the scene. He said there was nothing his client could do at the scene to help the victims.
Buckelew stated the defendant should have rendered aid and established contact with law enforcement.
Buckelew said he would accompany Sgt. Nelson tonight on the county patrol boat and get more detail on the investigation by visiting the accident scene. He said he may file additional charges against Rush in the next two weeks.
— Staff writer John Gutekunst contributed to this report.
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