'Shark Tank' Star Kevin O'Leary's Wife Had Alcohol On Her Breath On Night Of Fatal Boat Crash
Nov. 27 2019, Updated 4:31 p.m. ET
Kevin O'Leary's wife Linda had alcohol on her breath following the deadly boat crash she was involved in while driving the vessel in Toronto last summer, according to recently unsealed search warrant documents obtained by CBC News.
"Mrs. O'Leary was administered an alcohol screening device test and registered an alert. She was subsequently served a three-day driver's license suspension," Ontario Provincial Police allege in the documents. "Mrs. O'Leary claims to have consumed a drink of vodka following the collision and prior to the breath test."
According to the documents, "O'Leary could not remember who handed her the drink of vodka following the collision."
O'Leary's lawyer argues Linda was not under the influence at the time of the deadly collision.
"This tragic accident had nothing to do with alcohol," attorney Brian Greenspan wrote in an email to CBC News on Monday night.
"Linda O'Leary was not impaired; she is a highly experienced boater who was proceeding cautiously with due care and attention. She collided with a totally unlit boat on a moonless night which was invisible to any prudent operator. No one could have avoided the collision," he said.
The bombshell news comes off the heels of the businessman's wife being hit with a wrongful death lawsuit three months after her involvement in a fatal boat crash.
The family of the woman who tragically lost her life in the collision this past August filed the lawsuit against the Shark Tank star’s wife, Linda.
Readers know, at the time, Linda was driving the couple’s boat along Lake Joseph in Ontario, Canada, when they hit a larger vessel and hit various people on board.
Local woman Suzana Brito, 48, was brutally hurt in the collision and left with severe brain damage. The mother of three was put on a ventilator soon after, but died from her injuries Monday, August 26.
The second victim, Gary Poltash, 64, was hit on the head by the O’Learys’ boat while at the bow and died instantly at the scene.
Brito’s parents and sister have filed a lawsuit and are seeking punitive, exemplary and aggravated damages, according to the Toronto Sun.
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“For this grieving family, it is about obtaining civil justice so as to prevent these types of deaths and curtailing reckless and dangerous behavior from continuing on our lakes,” Attorney Patrick Brown, of the law firm McLeish Orlando LLP, said in a statement to the media.
Brito’s mother, Rosa Ragone also released an emotional statement. “Our family has lost a beautiful, loving person. We are devastated,” Ragone said. “We sincerely hope that through this process, that justice is served and that steps are taken so that innocent victims like Suzie, are not seriously injured and killed and that other families do not have to go through such pain and loss.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Kevin, 65, told reporters that the larger vessel didn’t have its lights on while driving around the lake that night. He also assured that wife Linda, 46, passed a DUI test after the accident.
The crash occurred at around 11:30 p.m., after which the O’Learys claimed the larger vessel fled the scene. Similarly, the owner of that vessel said the stars are the ones who left.
In September, authorities charged Linda in the fatal Aug. 24 boat crash, Ontario Provincial Police confirmed to RadarOnline.com at the time.
She was charged with careless operation of a vessel.
Police have also charged Richard Ruh, 57, the driver of the other boat, with failing to exhibit navigation light while underway.
Brito’s family is also suing Ruh.