KINGMAN, Ariz. – An attorney says self-defense motivated his client to use a weapon following an argument over poor boating etiquette at the crowded Windsor Beach launch ramp more than a year ago. A two- to three-day trial for William Wachtveitl, 54, Yucca, opened Monday at the Mohave County Law and Justice Center in Kingman.
Prosecutor James Schoppmann told the jury that the launch ramp gets very busy in August as boats are either coming off the water or launching. Such was the case on Aug. 2, 2025 Schoppmann said, when boats were backed up near the shore waiting their turn to use the ramp and exit the water.
Schoppmann said the victims included a young man, his girlfriend, her father and a friend. He told jurors that they were waiting in their spot when Wachtveitl cut into the line, securing a better position to get off the lake quicker.
Schoppmann said witnesses reported that Wachtveitl retrieved his pickup and drove erratically in the launch ramp parking lot, before the victims made their exit from the lake and ended up in the same staging area where people prepare their watercraft for driving away. He said one of Wachtveitl’s passengers escalated the argument before the defendant retrieved a weapon and pointed it in the face of three of the people in the other boat.
The firearm pointing results in three counts of aggravated assault. Wachtveitl is charged with disorderly conduct involving a weapon for firing multiple rounds toward the launch ramp area before driving away.
Schoppmann said Lake Havasu police conducted a traffic stop at 699 London Bridge Road and that officers detected signs of impairment, including Wachtveitl’s agitated demeanor and slurred speech.
The prosecutor said that testing revealed that the defendant had cocaine in his bloodstream and that he was driving when his license was suspended.
Public Defender Marcus Spradlin conceded that other witnesses indicated that some launch ramp commotion occurred because of the line cutting infraction. He also said that just because cocaine was present in his bloodstream is not proof that Wachtveitl was under the influence at the time.
“He was not impaired,” Spradlin said.
Spradlin said no one was shot or hurt, and that his client was justified in retrieving the firearm and firing the rounds to protect himself and others in his party.
Spradlin also said Wachtveitl is hard of hearing, resulting in additional chaos at the traffic stop.
“There was a lot of shouting, yelling. There were guns being pointed at him,” the defense attorney said.
