A passenger on board an ill-fated motorized pleasure craft said just minutes before a deadly crash near Outer Harbour Marina in Toronto in 2022, Filip Grkovski took the wheel of the motorized boat and began driving fast.
Grkovski is currently on trial for a number of charges relating to that crash, including impaired operation causing death. He has pled not guilty.
Speaking in a Toronto courtroom on Friday, Edward Denkha recalled the events of May 31, 2022, when the fatal boat crash occurred.
He said he drove Grkovski’s boat twice after 11 p.m. on the way back from the tie-up where they had spent the afternoon and evening tethered to four or five other boats, hanging out, listening to music and drinking. Denkha testified he consumed a maximum of six drinks during the seven-hour boat ride.
Denkha said Grkovski asked him to “look out for the cops” as they were leaving the tie-up, testifying Grkovski was worried because “everyone was drunk, everyone was drinking.”
As they approached the marina, Denkha said he refused to take the wheel a third time when Grkovski asked him to take control. “I said ‘No, I’m not familiar with the area.’ We were in open water,” said Denkha.
He also told court he had a boating licence but said he had only ever driven a smaller boat before.
Denkha explained that Grkovski had been fighting with his girlfriend all day and Grkovski kept going to the cabin below deck to speak with the girlfriend. Denkha said after refusing to take the helm the last time, Grkovski “puts the throttle in idle, he goes downstairs and comes back up.” It was then Denkha said Grkovski looked very, very angry.
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“I thought his eyes were going to pop out,” he said.
The 43-year-old, who said he was invited on the boat by Grkovski, testified that Grkovski started driving fast.
“He floored the boat. I said, ‘Slow down. The front of the boat is lifting up. You need to slow down.’ Minutes later, that was the crash,” Denkha said. He told court earlier in his testimony that he had seen Grkovski drinking and doing cocaine on the boat and said no one wore a lifejacket, nor did he know where they were kept on board.
Denkha said when he felt the first bang, the boat banked to the left and then “the whole thing rolled over.”
He said after the crash he was underneath the boat. “The lights were on. The only person I could see was Julio. I started swimming under the boat. There was barely any openings until I found a spot and escaped. When I came out, the girls were out and Filip was out, so I was the fourth person out of the water,” he added.
Court has already heard evidence that two women who quickly escaped were on the rocks along with Grkovski. Four others who were trapped in the cabin under the deck were rescued after firefights cut a hole in the hull of the boat. Twenty-four-year-old Megan Wu and 34-year-old Julio Abrantes both could not be rescued and drowned.
When asked to describe being able to see Julio, Denka explained, “Yes, the water was rising up. I was at a point that I couldn’t breathe. I started tasting the water with that oil taste and gas taste.”
He said as he swam away from the boat, he reached for his phone and started calling 911 but for some reason, he hung up before he was connected. Denka said he first spoke to the women to ask them if they were okay and then spoke to Grkovski.
“I said, ‘Make sure that nobody dies here. Pray to God everyone is alive or else you’re going to be in trouble.’”
“A couple of minutes later, they were trying to accuse me that it was me operating,” said Denkha. He testified it seemed like it took a long time for first responders to arrive at the rocks where he was sitting.
“I was in shock. I was bleeding. I was shivering. I was cold. I had no shoes on.”
Court was shown pictures Denkha said he took of his injuries two days after the collision, including injuries to the left side of his head, his left shoulder, and his left arm. He said he also suffered pain in his pelvis and a cut on his foot.
Defence lawyer Alan Gold will begin his cross-examination on Monday.
Grkovski is charged with two counts of each criminal negligence and impaired operation causing death and two counts of each criminal negligence and impaired operation causing bodily harm.
The 41-year-old Mississauga man has pleaded not guilty. The trial continues.
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