Captain/owner charged with manslaughter in deaths of 2 crew members
A Cushing man has been charged in federal court with seaman’s manslaughter in the deaths of two crew members when his lobster boat sank off the coast of Rockland during a storm in 2014. Christopher A. Hutchinson was arrested Monday, according to court documents, and charged by indictment in the deaths of Tomas Hammond, 26, of St. George, and Tyler Sawyer, 15, of Waldoboro, on Nov. 1, 2014. He is scheduled to make his first appearance Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Portland. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The federal Seaman’s Manslaughter Statute, which dates back to the 1800s, criminalizes misconduct or negligence by anyone responsible for managing a vessel, including a captain, pilot or owner. Hutchinson was the sole survivor in the sinking of his boat, the No Limits. He is accused of taking oxycodone, using marijuana and drinking alcohol before taking the boat out in the early-morning hours. The boat was headed for a fishing area called Eleven Mile Ridge, despite National Weather Service warnings of dangerous weather and sea conditions. Read the story here 15:52
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