A former Niagara-on-the-Lake volunteer firefighter remains in jail after being charged last week in a serious boating crash in Muskoka.
Richard Alan Moore, 39, a contractor who works with a Niagara Falls landscaping company, faces a slew of charges in the incident that injured co-worker Austin Anderson during an outing on Skeleton Lake in Muskoka.
Moore, who grew up in NOTL but now lives in Niagara Falls, has been charged with impaired operation causing bodily harm, refusing to provide a breath sample, failing to stop at an accident causing bodily harm and failing to comply with a release order.
Anderson was in the water when the boat swerved and struck him, causing what Ontario Provincial Police investigators initially called “life-threatening injuries.”
OPP in Bracebridge on Tuesday issued a call for more witnesses to come forward and also said they are seeking video footage that might help in their investigation.
On Monday morning, Moore appeared briefly in Bracebridge court by video link from the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Ont.
The court appearance was scheduled to be a bail hearing to determine whether Moore would be released pending his trial.
However, court was told that Moore and his father Alan were still in the process of retaining a lawyer to represent him in the Bracebridge case.
As a result, Justice of the Peace Cheryl McLean remanded him in custody until Tuesday, Aug. 5, for another possible bail hearing.
The Bracebridge incident is the just latest legal problem for Moore.
In June, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in the death of 84-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake cyclist Nestor Chemerika.
Moore left the scene after he struck down the senior while driving along East and West Line in July 2023. Chemerika died of his injuries 12 days later.
A sentencing date in that case has not yet been set.
On the evening Chemerika was hit, about one hour before his pickup truck crashed into the cyclist, Moore was seen on security video at the NOTL Legion purchasing a pitcher of draught beer during the popular Thursday fish fry.
The video did not show him consuming any beer, however.
Moore, who was wearing a “volunteer fire department” T-shirt at the time, was a volunteer with the NOTL Fire Department for a few years.
He was forced to resign about six years ago over his attendance and availability to answer emergency calls.
Last Wednesday, in Superior Court in St. Catharines, Moore’s defence lawyer suggested the sentencing in the Chemerika case could be delayed because of the charges his client is facing in Bracebridge.
“There’s been a very specific personal development in the circumstances of Mr. Moore,” Jeffrey Manishen said in reference to the Muskoka incident, “with the result that I’m going to seek his instructions on whether, as a result of that, he wishes me to make further submissions on sentence before Mr. Justice (Michael) Bordin.”
Anderson’s family says he is slowly but surely starting to recover and is now breathing on his own.
He was placed in a medically induced coma at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto shortly after he was airlifted there following the crash.
Anderson is from Keswick, near Lake Simcoe, but about a year ago, he and his family moved to Welland, his cousin Steve Anderson told The Lake Report.
Family members, including his parents, Erin and Brennan Anderson, are staying in Toronto to be near him.
Austin Anderson has been working for GGS Niagara Landscaping Inc. in Niagara Falls. Moore, who has been a contractor specializing in concrete driveway installations, also does work for the landscaping firm.
Company owner Graham Boaretti last week confirmed that Anderson is an employee, but he declined to say more or to speak about Moore, noting, “We’re letting the investigators do their work.”
Anderson’s family launched a GoFundMe campaign to help raise $25,000 to support him in his recovery.
The largest single donation to the campaign is $3,600, from GGS Niagara.
In a Facebook posting, Boaretti urged people to help the family and described Anderson as “one of my best friends.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fund totalled almost $21,000.
The campaign notes that if Anderson recovers, he could need specialized care.
