Congressman Rams Rocks In the Dark (Hurts His Head)

Thankfully Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg’s head was hard enough to sustain a crash on the rocks and keep on ticking. The accident left his state director in a coma for 10 days. Rehberg was a passenger in a 22-foot Mirage and not at the wheel when the boat ran up on the rocks on a dark night as the skipper was looking at his GPS. His Montana state director, Dustin Frost, suffered a “significant” head injury, but is expected to recover. The accident happened after dinner.

Investigators inspect the site of a boat accident on Montana’s Flathead Lake that injured U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) in August. The skipper was checking his GPS at the time.

By MATT GOURAS and MATTHEW DALY | Associated Press | Sept. 9, 2009

Rep. Denny Rehberg on Wednesday provided the harrowing details of a boat crash after dinner and drinks in late August as he returned to Washington using a walker and on crutches, saying he crawled out of the wreckage with only his cowboy boot holding his shattered ankle in place.

The congressman was with a state senator and three other people when they crashed into the steep and rocky shore of Flathead Lake during the August recess. Authorities investigating the accident have zeroed in on the drinking that night by the driver, state Sen. Greg Barkus, as they consider filing charges.

Rehberg told reporters on a conference call that Barkus did not appear impaired. Prosecutors have not released the driver's blood-alcohol level yet. Rehberg said he had a couple pints of beer that night over dinner, and tests at the hospital showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.05 percent, below the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Injured Expected to Recover

The other boat passengers included two Rehberg staffers and Barkus' wife, who suffered relatively minor injuries. Rehberg said he believes his two injured staffers will eventually be able to return to work. The most seriously hurt, state director Dustin Frost, has improved significantly in recent days as he recovers from a significant brain injury.

The congressman said that he did not notice whether Barkus was drinking during a dinner event that lasted several hours. Rehberg said he was busy talking with a lot of different people who wanted to discuss various congressional issues.

"I have no idea what anyone else felt. We could go through and second guess this forever," Rehberg said. "I saw no signs of impairment at all."

Driving in the Dark

Rehberg said that he remembers Barkus, who was standing while driving, commenting on how dark it was that evening and adjusting his navigation system before they hit the shore.

Rehberg said that Barkus gave an indication that their supposed location did not seem to match up with the darkened scenery.

Hit While Looking at GPS

"I looked over and he scrolled over to a different picture on his GPS, and he commented this is where we were coming from and going to, and it was about that time we hit," Rehberg said.

The crash left him badly injured.

"I didn't lose consciousness, although I was rolling around like a rag doll," Rehberg said. "I am pretty bruised up."