A Boston attorney who spends his days representing defendants faced with operating under the influence was arraigned today, accused of drunkenly operating a ship during an incident that led to a 19-year-old woman’s arm being stopped by the vessel’s propeller.
Benjamin Urbelis, 33, of Charlestown, was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on charges of “operating a ship while under the influence causing serious bodily injury, negligent operation of a ship, and operating a motorboat with no legally required identification number,’OUI lawyer ‘according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
Reporters in the courtroom noted that Urbelis was arraigned while still wearing swim trunks.
He pleaded not guilty.
Urbis was held on $75,000 bail and ordered to surrender his passport. He did not immediately answer a request for comment.
According to The Boston Globe, the incident took place in Boston Harbor on Saturday night when a female passenger aboard the 29-foot boat – named the “Naut Guilty”– fell overboard.
“As she tried to have back on the boat, her arm became caught in the propeller … Thirteen individuals were aboard when the woman fell overboard near Spectacle Island,’ ‘The Globe reported.
Firefighters were unable to retrieve the woman’s severed arm, according to The Globe.
The internet site for Urbelis Law LLC describes Urbelis’significant experience representing clients faced with operating under the influence.
According to the site, Urbelis is part owner of Julep Bar, positioned in Boston’s Financial District, in addition to a founder of Top Shelf Entertainment.
