Pleasant Valley man charged in fatal Iowa boat crash

LeCLAIRE, Iowa (AP) - Iowa officials have charged a Pleasant Valley man with manslaughter after a boating crash last summer on the Mississippi River that killed two people.

James Thiel, 44, has been charged with two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, two misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of reckless use of a watercraft and operation of an unregistered watercraft, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said in a news release Tuesday.

Officials said Thiel turned himself in to authorities Tuesday morning.

Thiel owned and was aboard the 35-foot center-console boat that crashed into a 19-foot ski boat on Aug. 16, authorities have said. The crash killed two people aboard the smaller vessel, 52-year-old Anita Pinc and her fiancé, 61-year-old Craig Verbeke. Both were from Moline, Illinois.

Pinc, who died at the scene of the crash, worked as a obstetrician and gynecologist in Davenport. Verbeke worked as a manager at the Rock Island Arsenal. He died in a hospital three days after the crash.