Boat crash involving Shark Tank star remains under investigation

Despite the fact that Kevin O’Leary, star of the TV show Shark Tank, told NBC news that he was “devastated” by a fatal boat crash that he was involved in last Saturday night, Canadian police are not confirming the identity of anyone in the incident other than the two people who died.

Gary Poltash, 64, from Belleair Beach, Fla., was pronounced dead immediately following the crash, while Susanne Brito, 48, of Uxbridge, Ontario, was taken to the hospital where she later died from her injuries.

“On late Saturday night, I was a passenger in a boat that was involved in a tragic collision with another watercraft that had no navigation lights on and then fled the scene,” O’Leary told NBC news in a statement. NBC affiliate CNBC carries the Shark Tank show.

“The OPP reported that both boats left the scene and called emergency services,” Constable Joe Scali, media/community safety officer for the West Parry Sound detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police told Trade Only Today this morning. “When we arrived, both boats were not at the collision scene. They had called the ambulance for injuries.” When asked about the navigation lights on each boat, Scali would not comment.

NBC says that O’Leary owns the boat he was on and that his wife, Linda, was driving. She reportedly passed a test for operating under the influence.

Numerous reports said that the O’Learys were on a smaller boat that ran into a larger boat. TMZ reported that O’Leary’s boat ran over the bow of the larger boat, hitting Poltash. Scali told Trade Only Today that the O’Leary’s boat was a small runabout and the boat it hit was a larger wakesports boat with a capacity of 13 people.

When asked about the sobriety test of the drivers, Scali said, “We look at every aspect. We haven’t ruled out anything yet. We wouldn’t comment at all until the investigation is thoroughly complete.”

Marine investigators from the West Parry Sound police are looking at both boats and the crash scene is being gone over as well.

“It takes its natural progression and we would only release a statement when the investigation is complete,” Scali said.