The estate of a Waterford man killed in the aftermath of a 2022 Portland boat crash has filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit accusing the boat operator of negligence and recklessness before a “violent collision” into a rocky riverbank.

The two-count suit accuses boat operator Kerry Sheltra of causing the fatal crash by operating the vessel in a reckless manner in a “slow-no-wake" zone while under the influence of liquor or drugs.

There have been no arrests in the case.

The civil complaint was filed July 6 in Middletown Superior Court by Matthew and Andrea Hamler, co-administrators for the estate of Wayne Hamler, the 60-year-old victim.

Hamler was one of eight people ― including six adults and two children ― on board a 21-foot Yamaha jet boat on July 10, 2022, that was heading north on the Connecticut River outside of Portland, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials said last year.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., the boat “suddenly veered” toward the shoreline, striking rocks on the bank and causing several passengers to be ejected. Hamler, a longtime Electric Boat employee and fitness buff, was pronounced dead at the scene and several other passengers were hospitalized, DEEP officials said.

DEEP officials did not respond to a request seeking an update on their investigation.

The plaintiffs, represented by attorney Charles Norris of the Chinigo, Leone & Maruzo of Norwich, in part accuse Sheltra of inattentiveness by “willfully and consciously” not maintaining a lookout or failing to control the vessel.

The suit alleges Sheltra’s laxness at the helm led to a situation in which “the vessel left the water, traveled approximately 50 feet on land, striking three trees along the shore of the Portland Fairgrounds, and collided with rocks on the bank of the river.”

Norris could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Sheltra’s attorney, Andreas Motolanez, of Mulvey, Oliver, Gould & Crotta of Hamden, declined to comment.

In an Aug. 11 request to revise the complaint, Motolanez noted the plantiff’s suit purports to bring action based on Connecticut’s wrongful death statute and “maritime wrongful death law.”

“Being two separate legal theories are being alleged in one count, it is impossible to distinguish between (the claims),” Motolanez wrote. “As a result, the defendant is unable to frame a sufficient answer or other responsive pleading to the plaintiff's complaint.”

The suit seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000 as well as unspecified punitive and exemplary damages.

A pre-trial conference between the parties is scheduled for Oct. 10.

j.penney@theday.com