The attorney for the family of the 43-year-old windsurfer killed on Lake Mendota last month said Tuesday morning he will file a motion this week to receive information related to the investigation into the death, according to a news release.
Jay Urban, the attorney for the family of Yu Chen, originally said he is filing the motion in Dane County Tuesday. He confirmed to News 3 that he didn’t file the motion Tuesday but will file it this week.
He said he’ll be asking the court to compel the university, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Dane County Sheriff’s Office to release boat records, videos and other evidence Urban says is being withheld.
“We want the state to release information about the speed of the boat and the inspection of the boat and to give a full explanation of how something that’s not supposed to happen could happen,” Urban said in the statement.
Chen was killed when he was struck by a University of Wisconsin Lifesaving Station boat while he was windsurfing, according to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office. Chen was teaching a lesson at around 6 p.m when he was hit. According to the motion, Chen was struck by the power boat, knocked into the lake where his body was “chopped by the power boat propellers until he died.”
Three people on the rescue boat tried to help Chen, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Urban said the information requested in the motion is needed for a forthcoming injury and wrongful death civil lawsuit.
