Driver involved in boat crash injured 10 has prior DUI arrests, excessive speeding convictions
By Angie Ricono, Cyndi Fahrlander
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SMITHVILLE, Missouri (KCTV) — The investigation into the weekend boating accident at Smithville Lake that injured 10 people is ongoing.
Today the MSHP tweeted out that the Clay County Prosecutor has access to the case file and could consider additional charges.
KCTV5 checked the background of one of the drivers–41-year-old Michael Brittain. Brittain was in the bigger boat the struck the boat driven by 29 year old Ryan Brende. All 10 of the injured in the accident were in the smaller boat. They all left the scene by ambulance.
We found Brittain has a slew of convictions—traffic violations, excessive speeding, domestic battery and burglary. We also found five prior DUI arrests—four in Missouri and one in Kansas. The first dates back to 2004, the last was in 2020.
In the boat crash, Brittain was cited for careless and imprudent driving. A Highway Patrol spokesperson told us that if alcohol was a factor, he would have been booked that day. He was not. It’s unclear if a breathalyzer test was taken at the scene, although, the spokesperson says that would not be standard procedure at a boat crash.
The mother of one survivor says her daughter was lucky to see the boat barreling towards her and was able to jump into the water. Others weren’t so lucky. A 2 year-old was injured and a 26 year-old has serious injuries.
The mother called into 98.1 KMBZ radio show ‘Dana and Parks’ radio show when they began discussing the case and the current misdemeanor charge.
“Pretty sad isn’t it?” responded the mother.
“I think leaving children hurt and scared for their lives on board is a whole other level of a type of person,” said the mother Jenny.
You can hear her entire interview here: audacy.com/kmbz/podcasts/the-dana-parks-podcast-20394
We reached out to Michael Brittain for comment, but he has not responded.
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