A former Niagara-on-the-Lake volunteer firefighter charged last week in a serious boating crash that sent a swimmer to hospital has been remanded in custody pending a possible bail hearing next week.
Richard Alan Moore, 39, a contractor who now works for a Niagara Falls landscaping company, faces a slew of charges in the incident that injured work colleague 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.
He was a volunteer with the NOTL Fire Department for a few years but was forced to resign about six years ago over his availability to answer fire calls.
On Monday morning, he appeared in Bracebridge court by video link from the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Ont.
Court was told that Moore is still in the process of retaining a lawyer to represent him in the Bracebridge case so Justice of the Peace Cheryl McLean remanded him in custody until Tuesday, Aug. 5.
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.
He 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.
Anderson has been in a medically induced coma in St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto since shortly after he was airlifted there following the crash.
He suffered what police initially called “life-threatening injuries” but his family says it appears he is slowly but surely starting to recover.
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 is also employed by 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 support him in his recovery and the largest single donation so far is $3,600 from GGS Niagara.
In a Facebook posting last week, Boaretti urged people to help the family and described Anderson as “one of my best friends.”
As of Monday, the fund totalled more than $20,000.
The campaign notes that if Anderson recovers, he could need specialized care.
EARLIER STORY:
NOTL native charged after boat hits swimmer in Muskoka
A Niagara-on-the-Lake native who killed a cyclist in a hit-and-run two years ago is facing several serious new charges after a boat collided with a swimmer in Muskoka on Saturday evening, leaving a 22-year-old man with life-threatening injuries.
Richard Alan Moore, 39, is being held at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Ont., pending a bail hearing on Monday, July 28, in Bracebridge.
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.
The victim, Austin Anderson, has been in a medically induced coma in St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto since shortly after he was airlifted there following the crash.
He suffered life-threatening injuries, Ontario Provincial Police investigators said.
A family spokesperson said that thanks to the medical care he has received at St. Mike’s, Anderson’s condition has stabilized and they are hoping he is able to make a full recovery.
But until he emerges from the coma, it is not known what the future holds.
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 is also employed by the landscaping firm.
Company owner Graham Boaretti 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 support him in his recovery and the largest single donation so far is $3,600 from GGS Niagara.
In a Facebook posting on Tuesday, Boaretti urged people to help the family and described Anderson as “one of my best friends.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fund totalled more than $16,000.
The campaign notes that if Austin recovers, he could need specialized care.
Moore pleaded guilty in June to reckless driving in the death of 84-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake cyclist Nestor Chemerika.
On Wednesday, in Superior Court in St. Catharines, Moore’s lawyer and the Crown were scheduled to set a date for his sentencing in the death of Chemerika.
But Moore’s lawyer, Jeffrey Manishen, told the court that he, the Crown and Justice Michael Bordin of Hamilton have been unable to find a day when everyone is available for the judge to deliver his sentence.
The parties plan to meet again in late August to try to determine a sentencing date.
However, the latest charges against Moore could affect that, Manishen suggested.
“There’s been a very specific personal development in the circumstances of Mr. Moore,” the lawyer said, in reference to the new charges in Muskoka, “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 Bordin.”
The Muskoka incident occurred about 5 p.m. last Saturday as Anderson and friends were enjoying themselves in the water at Skeleton Lake, near Bracebridge.
After the boat struck Anderson, witnesses and people on shore jumped into the water to rescue him, the OPP said.
The boat did not stop and Moore was arrested a short time later, police said.
Steve Anderson said his cousin suffered a fractured skull and serious injuries to both arms.
“One arm was broken in several places,” Anderson said. “It took several hours of surgery” to rebuild one hand but it appeared to be successful, he added.
He noted the Anderson family is deeply concerned that Moore was already convicted of a serious offence involving the death of Chemerika, but now faces charges related to Saturday’s incident in Muskoka.
“Maybe Austin’s case can be the one to create a change in the legal system,” he said.
Moore’s guilty plea in St. Catharines court in June came after Niagara Regional Police investigators determined he had struck Chemerika on July 13, 2023, on East and West Line near Niagara Street and then fled the scene.
Chemerika died 12 days later in hospital in Niagara Falls.
The night of that incident, Moore had been at the NOTL Legion, where video surveillance showed him purchasing a pitcher of draught beer about an hour prior to hitting Chemerika with his pickup truck, court was told. The video did not show him consuming any beer, however.
Moore was wearing a “volunteer fire department” T-shirt at the time.
NOTL fire chief Jay Plato confirmed Moore had been a volunteer firefighter with the department but resigned about six years ago.
