Footage shows final moments before fatal boat crash at Dock Street Dam
FILE PHOTO: A search and rescue vehicle leaves the Steelton boat access area on Tuesday, May 8. A boat capsized in the area of the Dock Street dam. (Photo: Brandie Kessler, York Daily Record)
(Undated) — Video surveillance from a building near the Susquehanna River captured the final moments before a fatal boat crash at the Dock Street Dam from May 7.
The Dauphin County District Attorney released the footage this week, the jon boat operated by Cody Binkley emerging from under the I-83 bridge and approaching the dam, turning eastward and running parallel to the dam, then turning toward the dam again and crashing into it head on.
Binkley’s 25-year-old fiancee, Mary Bredbenner, and 3-year-old daughter, Madeline Binkley, as well as the family dog, drowned after being tossed into the river.
The 26-year-old Binkley of Palmyra, Lebanon County, was also tossed but was able to swim to safety, police said.
The May boat crash claimed the lives of Mary Bredbenner, 25, and Madeline Binkley, 3, as well as the family dog. Cody Binkley, 26, faces homicide charges. Courtesy of the Dauphin County District Attorney, York Daily Record
He was arraigned Wednesday morning on multiple charges, including homicide by watercraft while under the influence and involuntary manslaughter.
A blood test revealed Binkley had marijuana in his system, according to the affidavit, and it’s illegal to operate watercraft in Pennsylvania with any marijuana in your system. The affidavit said the level of marijuana in Binkley’s system indicates he had very recently ingested the drug, perhaps while operating the jon boat.
This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.
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