Arizona Indicts Sherman Oaks Man in Fatal Boat Crash

A Sherman Oaks man whose boat collided with that of a Chatsworth family on Lake Havasu in Arizona, killing a woman and her daughter, was indicted Thursday on charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault.

John A. Brubaker, 20, was indicted by an Arizona grand jury on two counts of manslaughter in the deaths Aug. 18 of Diane Marks, 42, and Laura Bloch, 8, and one count of aggravated assault in the serious injuring of Michael Bloch, 38, Marks’ husband, according to court officials.

The motorboat that Brubaker was steering crashed into the right side of the Blochs’ motorboat, knocking Marks and her daughter overboard. Witnesses said a woman passenger had been sitting on Brubaker’s lap at the time of the collision and could have blocked his view, said Eric Larson, the Mohave County prosecutor in the case.

Michael Bloch was in good condition Thursday after being transferred from Havasu Regional Hospital to Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Woodland Hills, according to hospital officials.

The passenger aboard Brubaker’s boat, Doreena Dicks, 18, of Fallbrook, also was injured. She was in good condition at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla and is expected to be released soon, a hospital spokesman said.

Brubaker will be arraigned in Mohave County Superior Court on Sept. 11, when a trial date also will be set, Larson said.

Autopsies revealed that Marks and her daughter drowned, said Henry Snell, Mohave County medical examiner.