A Hammond man accused of assault and reckless endangerment after a boat crash during the Buoy 10 fishing season last year has died, ending the criminal case.

Marlin Larsen was allegedly driving a fiberglass 31-foot Bayliner Trophy up the Columbia River with two other passengers when it collided with an aluminum 20-foot Weldcraft. The three passengers aboard the Weldcraft leaped into the river seconds before the collision.

The Weldcraft passengers — Bryan Maess, Roni Durham and Christopher McMahon — were all pulled from the river by nearby boaters and treated at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria for minor injuries. Footage of the incident that severely damaged the boat was shared in January on Facebook by Angling Oregon, a website operated by McMahon.

Larsen was charged with three counts of fourth-degree assault, three counts of recklessly endangering another person and reckless operation of a boat.

A death certificate, however, reveals Larsen, 75, died in February at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, where he also owned property.

Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Cindee Matyas ordered last week that the criminal case be dismissed.

Each of the Weldcraft passengers, however, filed lawsuits against Larsen in connection with the incident that severely damaged the boat.

The lawsuits claim Larsen was not paying attention to the boat he was driving, causing lingering injuries to the plaintiffs.

Following a motion filed by McMahon’s lawyer, Circuit Court Judge Dawn McIntosh ordered that the suit be transferred to a representative of Larsen’s estate, and a four-day trial has been scheduled for October. Maess has yet to file a similar motion, but a trial in that case is scheduled for the same time as McMahon’s.

Durham filed his lawsuit earlier this month against Larsen’s estate. A trial date has yet to be set in that case.

• Watch a video of the crash: https://youtu.be/agWmkZYu31Q