Boater charged in ’19 drowning death
Decision comes 1 year after Annapolis man fell into South River
A Crownsville man was charged with manslaughter Tuesday, almost exactly one year after 76-year-old George Jaeger, of Annapolis, fell off his boat into the South River and drowned.
Thomas James Coale, Sr., 54, faces one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of manslaughter by vessel and a host of offenses related to his alleged operating of his boat while impaired by alcohol on May 6, 2019, court records show.
Coale was charged by way of criminal summons and it’s unclear whether sheriff’s deputies have been able to serve him with the charges yet. He does not have an attorney listed in court records and did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment Wednesday afternoon.
Natural Resources Police said in charging documents for Coale after Jaeger fell from the boat, Coale tried but was unable to retrieve him from the water and returned to Liberty Marina without calling for help. Video apparently showed him sitting on his boat at the Marina for more than 30 minutes without summoning help from multiple passersby. Eventually he got into his red pickup truck and called 911 to say that his “buddy” fell off the boat.
Anne Arundel County firefighters arrived at the scene first on a vessel and pulled Jaeger from the water. Jaeger had a weak pulse, but medics tried to resuscitate him. At some point that evening medics stopped life-saving measures and took Jaeger to Anne Arundel Medical Center, according to charging documents. He died.
Jaeger attended Dickinson and George Washington universities and served in the U.S. Marine Corps, according to an obituary for him. He is said to have worked at McGarvey’s Saloon and Oyster Bar as a general manager when the business opened in the mid-70s. He worked in the hospitality industry in Washington and Annapolis and was known for his quick wit and sense of humor, the obituary says.
Natural Resources Police originally dubbed Jaeger’s death an accident. They said last May there were no signs of foul play. A
spokeswoman for that agency declined to discuss the charges against Coale, citing a pending investigation.
Coale told police he and Jaeger and were friends and had been drinking at Buffalo Wild Wings on Riva Road before getting on Coale’s boat, according to charging documents.
Just as they were getting out of the “slow zone” near Liberty Marina, Coale told investigators that Jaeger fell off the boat while urinating, court records show. Coale allegedly said he was too intoxicated to pull Jaeger from the water.
Coale failed the gamut of sobriety tests, police wrote. On the way to the hospital for a mandatory blood test, officers said Coale was “emotionally distraught” and made various comments about Jaeger, including being remorseful and taking the blame for his friend’s death.
Police found no life preservers or throwable flotation devices aboard the vessel. Coale was issued Maryland Department of Natural Resources citations for not having the required equipment on board, as well as boating in a negligent manner.
The water temperature was approximately 65 degrees around that time, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Chesapeake Bay buoy data.