NAPLES – Business owners and others in this community expressed mixed reactions Thursday to speedboat driver Robert LaPointe’s conviction on drunken driving charges.

Jim Allen, owner of the Naples Marina, said he knew all four people involved in the Aug. 11, 2007, accident in which LaPointe’s twin-engine, 32-foot craft ran over a 14-foot motorboat at night on Long Lake, killing Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Naples and Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick.

LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., and Bridgton, and his passenger, 19-year-old Nicole Randall, then of Harrison, were thrown from his boat and swam to shore.

On Wednesday, jurors found LaPointe guilty of two counts of aggravated operating under the influence, each punishable by up to five years in prison. The jury was deadlocked on two counts of manslaughter and a single count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

“It was a tragedy, no matter what,” Allen said. “It was a full-on tragedy.”

Allen said he was woken up early the next day to help with recovery efforts.

“I feel bad for everybody involved,” he said. “I feel very bad for Raye’s family and Suzanne’s family. Nobody went out there that night expecting to lose their life, and nobody went out there expecting to take a life.

“I feel bad for Robby, who’s going to have to live with this the rest of his life,” he added. “Nicole’s going to have to live with this the rest of her life, and she was the innocent bystander in the whole thing.”

Mike Bray, owner of Bray’s Brew Pub and Eatery, where Groetzinger worked as a bartender and Trott was a regular customer and occasional musical performer, said he wished the jury could have made a decision on the remaining charges.

“It’s a tragic thing that happened as it is, and nothing that really comes from this trial is going to bring back my friends,” he said. “And somehow I feel with this hung jury thing it’s not exactly going to bring closure to some of the family members either, which is a shame.”

Bray said some of his staff had a hard time during the trial, which he says brought back memories of the accident.

“I know I’ve seen one of my bartenders just have to go out back for a little while just to get away from it,” he said.

Vicki Davenport, wife of the owner of Long Lake Marina, said she did not think LaPointe has accepted responsibility for the accident.

“You said he was drunk, how could you say he wasn’t reckless?” she asked, referring to the jury’s findings.

Jay Kent, a Naples resident who lives lakeside, said she would like LaPointe to serve some time in jail, and that a lenient sentence would be an invitation for reckless behavior on the lake. She also said some boats on Long Lake are nuisances.

“Some of them are too big for the lake,” she said. “They should be on the ocean.”

Scott Allen, brother of Jim and co-owner of Naples Marina, also knew all four people involved in the accident. He said LaPointe was taking the matter seriously.

“I know he’s very, very upset about everything,” he said. “I know a lot of people are judging him without knowing him. And obviously you feel for the two families who lost loved ones. It’s tragic. It’s just a tragic accident.”

Rep. Richard Sykes, R-Harrison, said he will again push to change Maine boating laws after trying unsuccessfully to introduce horsepower and speed limits on Long Lake after the accident. Sykes is also advocating mandatory education and a higher minimum age to operate a boat in Maine.

Sykes said he will likely revisit the education portions of the bill and is considering asking for speed limits instead of horsepower limits, which marina owners said would prohibit cabin cruisers and other slower boats with more horsepower.

Jim Allen said that people who drive performance speedboats such as LaPointe’s are usually more experienced than other boaters and do not cause problems. He said that since the accidents and the proposed laws, he has seen some positive changes on the lake.

“People appear to be more conscious at night,” he said. “I think that people have quieted down their boats, and those were things that needed to happen. The boats themselves didn’t need to go away. There were a couple of people who needed to modify how they drove their boats.”

LaPointe will be sentenced Nov. 12. He may still be tried on the deadlocked charges if the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office proceeds on the matter.