BALTIMORE -- Film director Francis Ford Coppola has filed suit against actor Ryan O'Neal's son, Griffin, and seven others, claiming their negligence contributed to the boating accident that killed Coppola's son last Memorial Day.
In the suit filed Friday in U.S. District Court, the move maker accused Griffin O'Neal, 23, of recklessness in driving a rented boat into a tow line strung between two other vessels on the South River near Annapolis.
Gian Carlo Coppola, 23, a passenger in the boat driven by O'Neal, was struck by the towline, sending him crashing to the boat deck. He sustained serious head injuries that led to his death.
The suit said O'Neal operated the boat with wanton disregard of obvious dangers in trying to 'overtake and cross between a towing boat and its tow,' failing to keep a proper watch for other vessels, speeding and operating the boat 'under the influence of alcohol or other mind-altering substances.'
O'Neal was convicted of reckless boating charges in the incident and was sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation. He was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the three-day trial in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.
Police did not test O'Neal for alcohol use on the day of the accident because he first told police that Coppola was driving the boat. However, he later admitted to drinking beer and tequila for several hours before the accident. O'Neal testified he was not drunk.
The suit does not ask for specific damages, but relief is being sought for Coppola's beneficiaries, including fiancee Jacquelin De LaFountaine and their daughter, Gian Carla Coppola, who was born on New Year's Day this year.
The suit said the young Coppola was employed as a video camera director and operator, was earning more than $60,000 a year and would have 'achieved monetary earnings far in excess of this amount' had he not been killed.
Also named in the suit was Pier Seven and its owners, named as Thomas and Laurie Cassidy and Michael and Carmen O'Connor; Bonnie and Kenneth Wilkens of Vienna, Va., and John Talbot of Mayo, Md., who were running the boats at the ends of the towline.
