Man found not guilty in San Mateo boating incident

“It was a horrible accident and I feel terrible for my part in it, and my family’s biggest concern was always for the well-being of the young kayaker,” Chiari said in a statement.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the jury acquitted Chiari in his criminal trial because they felt they couldn’t prove the causation factor. His trial was two weeks long and the jury deliberated for around a day and a half, Wagstaffe said.

Chiari asserted that he believes a civil lawsuit will prove that an officer maliciously arrested him without due cause at the scene of the crime, where his boat collided with a teenage kayaker, Francesco Adamo, causing him injury to his skull, legs, spine, chest and brain.

The claim filed against the city says that not only was Chiari driving a ski boat and pulling a wakeboarder in an area in the San Mateo Marina lagoon designated exclusively for water-skiing, not kayaking, his blood alcohol was below the legal limit.

“The investigating officer went far out his way to try to improperly convert an accident into a crime, and we were confident in what the result would be when the facts could finally be presented to a criminal jury, just as we are now confident in what the result is going to be when the facts about the false arrest and the promotion of a malicious prosecution are presented to a civil jury,” he said.

Chiari’s claim against the city states that his boat, which was impounded after the accident, was left to completely depreciate and was destroyed when it was released to him after his acquittal.

The claim also makes mention of arresting officer’s alleged history of violent and erratic behavior and the separate federal action that will be filed in that case of false arrest and wrongful prosecution, where damages exceed $2.5 million, according to the claim.

The city of San Mateo did not want to comment on the pending claim.