Woman Sues, Drunk Boat Driver Crashes

A Palatine woman who was seriously injured when a boat she was on crashed into another boat and capsized last month in a north suburban lake filed a lawsuit against the boat’s operator Wednesday. On Aug. 15, Brenda Schmid was on a boat in Nippersink Lake near north suburban Fox Lake when it collided with another boat, according to a release from Schmid’s law firm, Salvi Schostok & Pritchard. The release said the suit was filed in Lake County court Wednesday. The boat capsized, throwing Schmid into the water, the release said. The boat’s driver, Mark Holmquest and two others were also thrown into the water, but all three came up. Schmid did not, and became pinned underwater near the boats’ stern and trapped in mud. She was ultimately rescued, resuscitated and air lifted to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, the release said. After the incident, authorities discovered that both Holmquest and the driver of the other boat, David Caplan, were intoxicated while operating their boats, the release said. “The collision was a tragedy and despite heroic efforts [by witnesses on the scene] Ms. Schmid suffered some very serious injuries,” Atty. Patrick A. Salvi said in a statement. “My office is firmly committed to obtaining complete and just compensation for Ms. Schmid and her family.” The suit names Holmquest and Caplan as defendants, along with others.