Lawyer pleads not guilty to drunken boating; woman loses arm

Author: Associated Press
Published:
MGN

BOSTON (AP) – A Boston attorney who specializes in defending people charged with drunken driving has pleaded not guilty to operating a boat while drunk after a passenger fell overboard and lost her arm in the propeller.

Benjamin Urbelis was held on $75,000 bail and ordered to surrender his passport at his arraignment Monday.

Police and the Coast Guard allege the 33-year-old Urbelis was operating his 29-foot boat Naut Guilty on Saturday night in Boston Harbor when the 19-year-old woman jumped in the water to retrieve something that fell overboard.

The woman was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is recovering.

Urbelis’ lawyer says his client is an accomplished professional and not a flight risk.

Officials say 13 people were on the boat. Firefighters searched but failed to find the woman’s arm.

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