AUSTIN, Texas — Charges against a Houston lawyer accused of causing serious bodily injury to multiple people in a Lake Travis boat crash last year have been dismissed, according to documents obtained by KVUE Thursday.
According to our news partners at the Austin American-Statesman, Douglas E. McWilliams, a partner in the Vinson & Elkins' mergers and acquisitions division, told his passengers that he was leaving to get help for two women who were hurt after he crashed his boat into dry land. Reportedly, McWilliams did not return for almost five hours.
Reports state that, at the time, authorities believed he might have fallen into the water and began searching for him. The search included 16 law enforcement officers and an Austin police helicopter. A Texas Parks and Wildlife investigator reported that McWilliams had been seen drinking at a dinner party before the incident and charged him with leaving the scene of the crash.
The Statesman reported that the case was never presented to a grand jury for indictment and the charge was dismissed "in the interest of justice." A prosecutor for the case said that, after reviewing investigator notes and sworn affidavits from 17 of McWilliams' colleagues, it appeared he was not drunk at any point during the evening.
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The crash occurred on the night of May 10 around 11 p.m. after the boat may have struck a sandbar. Six people were on board at the time of the crash. Two were transported to the hospital by helicopter with serious injuries and another was taken by ambulance.
At the time, officials reported they searched for the missing boater, McWilliams, for several hours and eventually found him in a nearby home. He was also sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash urged officials to send a message of safety to Lake Travis boaters, urging them not to boat after dark due to hidden structures that could be under the surface.
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