Top Guggenheim Exec Faces Five Misdemeanors After Boating Accident That Left Two Injured

A top insurance executive at Guggenheim Partners has been charged with negligence and reckless driving as a result of a December boating collision that took place near Fort Lauderdale. 

Guggenheim’s Daniel Towriss now faces five misdemeanors as a result of the accident and has pleaded not guilty to all five charges, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The collision left a brand new 42 foot custom yacht upended on a jetty shortly after midnight on December 31. Two of his passengers were thrown from the boat and suffered injuries as a result, according to another lawsuit filed in July. The passengers allege that Towriss was driving “recklessly and under the influence”.

One of the passengers “suffered a fractured skull and injuries to her brain, leg and ribs, and has since had three surgeries”. Both passengers claimed in a lawsuit that Towriss “had a mixed drink and a share of two or three bottles of wine” before going out on the boat. On the boat, they claim he had another drink, became unaware of his surroundings and “permitted the boat to drift in an erratic way on the open water in dark, nighttime conditions.”

Guggenheim refrained from commenting, telling the WSJ: “The boating accident you have inquired about is a personal matter that occurred during a holiday vacation and is entirely unrelated to Mr. Towriss’s business duties and responsibilities.”

Towriss’ lawyers – as lawyers do – blamed the jetty and the passengers.

John Seiler, lawyer for Mr. Towriss, said Towriss was disappointed that the “boating outing among friends of many years turned into a lawsuit for money damages and the end of a friendship.”

Eric Schwartzreich, another one of Mr. Towriss’s lawyers, said: “We’re disappointed in these charges and intend to vigorously fight them in Court. This accident happened because of the well-known and dangerous conditions of the jetty.’’