Craig Verbeke and Anita Pinc.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has filed charges against a Pleasant Valley man in connection with a fatal boat accident on the Mississippi River near LeClaire in August of 2020.
Conservation officer, Travis Graves, says 44-year-old James Theil is charged with two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter. “One for the death of Craig Verbeke, one for the death of Anita Pinc,” Graves says.
Thiel was also charged with two aggravated misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of reckless use of a watercraft, and one count of operation of an unregistered watercraft. Graves says Thiel allowed a minor to drive the boat, and the minor was driving when the accident happened.
Graves says they charged Theil after reviewing all the information they could find.
“We conducted a thorough investigation and talked with as many people as possible. Just did a complete and thorough investigation to determine the incidents that occurred,” he says.
The 51-year-old Pinc was a doctor who died at the scene of the accident. Verbeke was 61, and died three days later. The couple was from Moline, Illinois, and were engaged.
(Photo courtesy of the DNR)