‘We’d like to see justice’: Fox River boat crash victim’s fiance recalls crash, loss
It was a picture perfect summer Saturday afternoon for Alan Telmini and Magdalena Jablonska as the engaged couple from Des Plaines spent July 25 aboard their boat cruising the Fox River.
After stopping at a sand bar for a swim with Jablonska’s adopted dog, Sasha, they began heading north up the river, looking for a place to stop for a bite to eat.
Then came the roar. It thundered up from behind them as their small boat slowed to enter a no-wake zone south of the McHenry Dam.
“I heard loud engines and I looked to my left for Maggie, and she was gone,” Telmini said Thursday. “I relive that moment every day. Now I just want to make sure other people don’t go through that.”
Authorities say the roar came from a 31-foot boat equipped with three, 500-horsepower engines that were propelling it as fast as 80 mph when it plowed over the top of the Des Plaines couple’s boat. The impact killed Jablonska, 48, and nearly cut the smaller craft in half.
Telmini spoke about the crash and his loss Thursday at a news conference in Chicago announcing that he and Jablonska’s family had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against that boat’s owner and driver, Richard M. Stevenson of Lisle.
“We’d like to see justice,” said Telmini. “I want to make sure other people out there (on the river) can enjoy it.”
The suit, filed Wednesday in McHenry County Circuit Court, alleges Stevenson was intoxicated and driving “in a reckless and dangerous manner” when the crash occurred about 2:45 p.m. July 25.
The lawsuit adds to Stevenson’s legal fallout from the crash. The 45-year-old already is behind bars in the McHenry County jail facing charges of aggravated driving under the influence and reckless homicide. Prosecutors allege he had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for driving when he was tested after the crash.
A message left with Stevenson’s criminal defense attorney was not immediately returned Thursday.
Louis C. Cairo, an attorney for Telmini and Jablonska’s estate, described Stevenson that day as “a freight train heading up the Fox River,” and said he has a reputation for driving recklessly on the river and Chain O’ Lakes.
“People are out trying to have recreational family time with their children, with their family, their friends, and these people have historically been put at risk by this particular driver,” Cairo said.
“Everyone says, ‘We see that boat all the time. He's always flying back and forth, back and forth,’” he added. “If you see him coming, get out of the way.”
Cairo labeled Stevenson a “spoiled son” who used wealth generated by his family’s successful business, Bolingbrook-based Stevenson Crane, to purchase the 2026 South Bay tri-toon boat for nearly $500,000 last year.
In a statement three days after the crash, Stevenson Crane said Richard Stevenson had been fired from the company, whose website previously identified him as a vice president.
The suit seeks at least $50,000 in damages, the maximum the plaintiffs must state at this point of the litigation.
“The biggest thing that (Jablonska’s) family wants more than anything is to see him gone, not from the crane company, but from society,” Cairo said of Stevenson. “This man should spend the rest of his life in jail for what he did. That is by far the biggest goal for this family: to see this guy off the waters, because there are thousands of families that use the Chain O Lakes every single day, and they should be able to use it and go home at the end of the day.”
Jablonska’s family and friends are preparing to say goodbye to her at memorial services this weekend. Born in Nysa, Poland, Jablonska moved to the United States as a child and served as a U.S. Marine before settling in the Northwest suburbs.
Michelle Macias, her younger sister by 14 years, said Jablonska helped raise her as a child and had been helping her look after her children.
“I've always called my sister for everything — any stress or something with my kids,” Macias said. “If they needed someone, they had her to go as a backup. Now they’ve lost that support.”
She and Telmini described Jablonska as someone who loved spending time with family and was passionate about helping people and animals in need. An online fundraiser started in her memory has raised more than $30,000 to benefit two animal shelters she supported.
“Maggie always said everything happens for a reason,” Macias said. “But there’s no reason why this should have happened.”
ckeeshan@dailyherald.com