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Boating accident leads to homicide indictment
Joseph Webb
Joseph Andy Webb

A man indicted for boating under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he caused the August death of Shana Crozier, 25, remains in Bryan County Jail after he was denied bond Thursday.

Joseph Andy Webb, 33, was arrested by officials with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources earlier this week after he reportedly failed to turn himself in. His next court date is April 23 in Bryan County Superior Court.

The Bulloch County man was indicted in March by a Bryan County grand jury on four counts of first-degree homicide by vessel, one count of making a false statement, two counts of operating a watercraft under the influence, one count of reckless operation of a vessel and one count of violation of the rules of the road for boat traffic.

The charges stem from an Aug. 18 incident on the Ogeechee River in which Crozier, of Savannah, was killed when her head struck a low bridge about 1.5 miles downstream from Kings Ferry Landing.

Webb allegedly was operating the 1998 Grumman boat on which Crozier was a passenger. According to the indictment, Webb operated the boat “in a reckless manner in reckless disregard of the safety of persons and property by operating said vessel at a high rate of speed while passing under a bridge with an exceptionally low clearance.”

Various reports say Crozier was believed to have been sitting at the bow facing the rear of the boat when she stood up, causing her head to strike a portion of a railroad bridge.

The indictment claims Webb caused Crozier’s death “without malice aforethought.” It charges Webb with being under the influence of a cocktail of drugs, including methamphetamine, diazepam, alprazolam and phentermine — all psychostimulants or anxiety medications — “to the extent it was less safe for him to operate said vessel ….”

Webb is also charged with having a blood alcohol level of 0.08 within three hours after he was operating the boat.

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