Prosecutor Releases New Details in Wakeboarding Death

The King County Prosecutor's Office has released additional details in the case of a local wakeboarder killed last summer on Lake Washington after declining to prosecute the boat operator for vehicular homicide.

Nate Bahner of Mercer Island, 33, drowned on Aug. 10, and police arrested the boat operator on suspicion of boating under the influence. Senior Deputy prosecutor Amy Freedheim said she believed the boat operator was intoxicated while towing Bahner, but that "does not appear to have had any bearing on the death."

No felony charges will be filed in the case, and Patch typically does not name individuals in criminal matters unless they are charged with a crime.

Freedheim said she believed the cause of Bahner's death was related to breaking his neck. He was attempting a backflip on a wakeboard and became entangled in the tow cable, according to the prosecutor. She said that Bahner's wife, three children and a babysitter were passengers in the boat, and made a video of most of his attempts, except for the final, fateful backflip. He was pulled from the water where he was found face-down and unconscious, but died later of drowning, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office.

Prosecutors believe the boat operator was drunk at the time of the accident and he was arrested after refusing to submit voluntarily to a breathalyzer test. Seattle Police later obtained a blood sample before he was released, which indicated alcohol was in his bloodstream, .036, 4 1/2 hours after the accident. Adjusting for time that had elapsed, Freedheim said she thought the boat operator would have been above the legal limit.

Prosecutors also said the boat operator has a prior arrest on suspicion of BUI in 2001 and was cited by for alcohol possession as a minor.

The case was returned by Freedheim to the Seattle Police for possible refiling in municipal court.