Woman pleads not guilty in boat fire

A Newport Beach mother pleaded not guilty Tuesday to allegedly setting her boyfriend’s boat on fire and driving drunk back to the scene with her child in the car.

Nicole Ann MacDonald, 40, is charged with two counts of arson and two counts of driving under the influence. She was arrested Sunday afternoon near Channel Road and Shipyard Way in Newport Beach after her boyfriend, Ian Prider, 43, of Costa Mesa, told police she tried to stab him.

According to police, Prider and MacDonald got into an argument aboard his 30-foot sailboat docked in the harbor. MacDonald tried to stab him and he ran off to call police, said Sgt. Evan Sailor. MacDonald threw his cell phone in the water then set his boat on fire before leaving, Sailor said. Prider saw his boat on fire from a nearby resident’s home where he was calling police, Sailor said.

Authorities said the boat was totaled, with damage to it and nearby boats totaling about $150,000. No one was injured from the fire.

MacDonald is being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000.

— Joseph Serna