CUSHING, Maine — In a rare move, federal prosecutors have charged a local lobsterman in connection with the deaths of two sternmen who died when his boat sank off Matinicus two years ago.
Christopher Hutchinson, 28, is accused of having been under the influence of drugs when the incident occurred on Nov. 1, 2014, according to federal court documents.
He was arrested Monday and charged by indictment with two counts of seaman’s manslaughter, the U.S. Attorney’s office indicated Monday in a prepared statement. Tom Hammond, 27, of Rockland and 15-year-old Tyler Sawyer, who lived in St. George and Waldoboro, drowned when Hutchinson’s lobster boat No Limits capsized in heavy seas as the boat was headed back to shore.
The U.S. Coast Guard investigated the case.
It was not clear Monday when the last time anyone was charged in Maine in connection with the death of someone at sea. A fatal collision in 2010 between two lobster boats off Winter Harbor resulted in a recommendation from the Coast Guard that one of the captains be criminally charged, but federal prosecutors declined to do so.
According to Hutchinson’s indictment, on the night before he and his crew went out fishing, he is alleged to have bought oxycodone without a prescription, smoked marijuana and drank alcohol. At around 9 p.m. the following day, after the Coast Guard rescued Hutchinson from a life raft, police drew a blood sample from him. Tests revealed the sample contained 8.7 nanograms of oxycodone per milliliter and 6.2 nanograms per milliliter of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, prosecutors wrote in the document.
“The indictment alleges that [Hutchinson’s] negligent and unsafe operation of the boat in forecasted dangerous weather and sea conditions and after using controlled substances and alcohol caused the loss of life,” federal officials wrote in the statement.
The indictment also indicates that warnings about dangerous marine weather were being broadcast by radio prior to the vessel’s departure from Tenants Harbor early on the morning of Nov. 1, 2014. Later that morning, around the time the boat flipped, weather sensor buoys in the area indicated winds were gusting to more than 46 mph and waves reached heights of more than 14 feet, federal officials noted.
Last year, the families of Hammond and Sawyer reached a civil settlement for more than $300,000 with Hutchinson and the vessel’s insurer. A judge later awarded $170,500 to Hammond’s family, which includes a young son, and $139,500 to Sawyer’s family.
Days after the boat capsized, Hutchinson told the Bangor Daily News the incident happened when they were done hauling traps for the day and were headed back to Tenants Harbor. The weather worsened, he said, and large waves swamped the vessel, causing it to flip over.
Hutchinson said he swam out of the wheelhouse to the surface and climbed on top of the overturned hull, where he clung to the keel and the bronze pipes of the keel cooler.
“I kept screaming for Tom and Tyler, but I didn’t hear or see them again,” Hutchinson said.
More than two hours later, the boat’s life raft popped to the surface and its emergency position indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, was activated. Hutchinson swam to the raft and fired off a flare before being rescued by the Coast Guard approximately five hours after the boat capsized.
Hammond’s and Sawyer’s bodies never were recovered. Both were declared presumed dead by the Coast Guard later that month.
Hutchinson was scheduled to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Portland on Monday. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
