BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. – A dispute between two groups of boaters at the Windsor Beach launch ramp at Lake Havasu brings more than a dozen-year prison sentence for a Yucca resident. William Wachtveitl, 54, was sentenced Sept. 17 by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle.
A jury deliberated only 35 minutes at the end of a three-day trial before convicting Wachtveitl of three counts of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct involving a weapon and for driving under the influence of cocaine.
“I am a drug addict,” Wachtveitl told Carlisle. He said he had been sober for some 20 years before relapsing before the Aug., 2025 incident at the lake.
Authorities said Wachtveitl cut in front of others to access the launch ramp before he retrieved a pickup truck and drove recklessly through the parking lot to fetch a boat. An argument ensued during an encounter that pitted Wachtveitl’s party with another group of boaters.
Deputy county attorney James Schoppmann told jurors that Wachtveitl pointed a weapon at three people, before firing one or more rounds toward the lake, striking no one. Schoppmann said the defendant was amped up on alcohol and drugs and was an aggressor, not a man acting in self-defense.
The jury was not persuaded by the defense contention that Wachtveitl used the weapon to prevent a friend in his group from fighting with others.
“I didn’t attack the people. I defended my group,” Wachtveitl said at his sentencing hearing. “I was innocent. I’m still innocent.”
Judge Carlisle said there was no fight in progress and that Wachtveitl’s decision to introduce a weapon was unnecessary, and only escalated the encounter. Carlisle ordered a prison term of 12 years and 4 months, followed by 10 years’ probation.
