40-Year-Old Drunk Boater Charged With Homicide After Deadly Jersey Shore Crash – K.i.l.l.e.d Construction Worker in High-Speed Hit
A 40-year-old man from New Jersey was arrested Friday and formally charged with homicide following a devastating July 25 boating crash that claimed the life of a 26-year-old construction worker. Kevin Wells, who allegedly was operating a 32-foot Boston Whaler while intoxicated, slammed his vessel into a channel marker near Toms River, triggering one of the third deadly “Drunk Boater” tragedies to strike the Jersey Shore this summer.
According to court records and police reports, the crash happened around 10:45 a.m. on July 25. Wells, described as inebriated, lost control and struck the marker at high speed. The impact hurled several passengers from the boat. Michael T. Bereheiko, a young construction worker from Green Brook, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two 27-year-old men suffered serious injuries, while a 24-year-old woman received only scrapes and bruises. All victims were rushed to nearby hospitals, but Bereheiko’s injuries proved fatal.
After the collision, Wells did not stay to help. Instead, he sped the boat to a nearby residence in Toms River, where emergency crews took over. “He rushed the boat to a nearby residence,” authorities stated in court filings. Bereheiko’s family, however, has shared a deeply personal obituary that paints a different picture of their son: a star high-school football player who loved the Jersey Shore, where he could “relax, laugh, and enjoy the company of those closest to him.”
Wells was charged with reckless vessel homicide and two counts of assault by vessel while intoxicated (or refusing a blood-alcohol test). The case is now in Ocean County Court, with his first hearing expected soon. He has not been reached for comment, and his lawyer could not be identified.
This is not an isolated incident. The July 25 crash joins two other high-profile fatal boating accidents along the Jersey Shore this summer involving intoxicated operators striking channel markers. In May, Jennifer Pearson, 59, was charged after allegedly causing the death of her 28-year-old son Gunnar in a similar incident. Earlier in July, 64-year-old Stephen Schneider was accused of the boating deaths of his two grandchildren on Barnegat Bay after striking a marker while impaired.
Legal experts and safety advocates are sounding the alarm. “Drunk boating on the Jersey Shore is no longer a ‘harmless’ summer activity—it’s a growing public-health crisis,” said one local safety official speaking anonymously. With alcohol-related vessel crashes remaining one of the top causes of death on New Jersey’s waterways, officials are urging stricter enforcement, better signage, and mandatory sobriety checks for boaters.
For now, the family of Michael Bereheiko mourns the loss of a promising young man who never got to enjoy another beach day. And authorities are making it clear: the days of treating boat crashes as “just an accident” are over. Kevin Wells’ arrest marks the latest chapter in a summer of preventable tragedy along the shore—one that has already cost three lives and left families shattered.
