“ONLY THREE BEERS”: GRANDPA’S CLAIM COLLIDES WITH 0.16 BAC AFTER BOAT CRASH CLAIMED HIS TWO GRANDCHILDREN

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Stephen Schneider told investigators he had consumed just three beers during a family dinner before taking the wheel of his boat.

But the toxicology evidence prosecutors are pointing to tells a very different story.

The 64-year-old New Jersey grandfather recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16%, according to court documents — twice New Jersey’s legal limit for operating a vessel. He is now facing serious charges in connection with the July 19 crash that claimed the lives of his two grandchildren, 9-year-old Mya Bella Golabek and 7-year-old Sigmund Paul Golabek.

The discrepancy between Schneider’s account and the laboratory result has become one of the most closely watched elements of the case.

“I HAD THREE BEERS”

According to the probable-cause affidavit, Schneider told investigators that he had consumed two Guinness beers and one Miller Lite over approximately two hours during dinner with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.

After dinner, the children reportedly wanted to ride with their grandparents.

Schneider then took the helm of his approximately 28-foot Tidewater Custom 280 for the trip home across Barnegat Bay.

What happened minutes later would change the family forever.

THE BOAT STRUCK A CHANNEL MARKER

At approximately 9 p.m., authorities say the vessel struck a channel marker near Berkeley Township.

The impact sent Mya and Sigmund into the water.

Both children were reportedly wearing life jackets.

In the darkness, the family initially struggled to determine exactly what had happened and where the children were.

Schneider entered the water in an attempt to locate them.

His wife, Laurie Schneider, called 911 as the family desperately tried to get help.

The recently released emergency call captures the extraordinary confusion of those moments, with Laurie telling the dispatcher that one child was on the boat while her husband was in the water searching for the other.

THE 0.16 READING

The alcohol evidence became a central issue after authorities obtained a court-ordered blood sample.

Testing showed a BAC of approximately 0.16%.

Prosecutors have argued that the level was significant evidence of impairment.

According to the affidavit, doctors who reviewed the toxicology results concluded that Schneider’s alertness, judgment, perception, response time and coordination were markedly impaired by alcohol.

New Jersey considers a BAC of 0.08% or higher legally impaired for vehicle operation, and prosecutors say the same threshold applies to the boating charge at issue here.

That means the reported 0.16 result was approximately twice the legal limit.

A FAMILY DINNER ENDED IN A NIGHTMARE

The tragedy is particularly painful because the children were traveling with their grandfather after what had been an ordinary family evening.

Mya was 9 years old.

Sigmund was 7.

After the collision, the children were recovered from the water and CPR was attempted before they were taken to a hospital.

Both ultimately died.

For their parents, the case has created an agonizing situation: the person prosecutors accuse of causing the crash is also a close family member.

Despite the charges, the children’s father has reportedly asked the court to allow Schneider to remain out of custody.

In a letter read during Schneider’s detention hearing, he described his father-in-law as a loving grandfather and an important part of the family.

SCHNEIDER HAS BEEN RELEASED

A judge ultimately granted Schneider conditional release.

He was ordered not to operate a boat or motor vehicle while he completes a court-ordered assessment and must comply with other monitoring conditions. His next court date is scheduled for September 15.

Schneider faces two counts of reckless vessel homicide/death by vessel as well as charges related to allegedly operating under the influence and reckless operation.

He has not been convicted, and the allegations will have to be proven in court.

THE QUESTION THAT MAY DEFINE THE CASE

For prosecutors, the reported 0.16 BAC is more than a number.

They are expected to argue that it helps establish Schneider’s condition when he was operating the boat and provides context for the events leading up to the collision.

For the defense, the circumstances surrounding the blood test, the timing of the sample and Schneider’s account of what he consumed could become important issues as the case moves forward.

And at the center of it all is the painful contradiction now confronting the court:

Schneider says he drank three beers.

The laboratory result showed 0.16%.

Somewhere between those two facts lies the story of what happened on Barnegat Bay that night.

And for Mya and Sigmund’s family, no courtroom argument can change the fact that two children who went out for a simple boat ride never made it home.