Key West Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: October 10, 2024

Boater Charged in Fatal Key West Crash, Months Later

Nearly three months have passed since a spearfisherman was killed by a passing boater over the July Fourth Weekend. Recently, authorities have charged that boater in the man’s death.

Palmer Reid Long Jr., 72, of Placida, Florida, was charged on Sept. 23, with vessel homicide after police say he didn’t slow down despite there being visible divers-down flags in the area. Vessel homicide is a second-degree felony and a conviction could mean up to 15 years in prison.

The incident happened on July 5, killing spearfisherman, Israel “Kiko” Boza, 56, of Hialeah, according to reporting from local news outlets. That same weekend, three separate incidents on the water in the Florida Keys injured about eight people, including a 12-year-old.

Published on: September 23, 2024

Florida Divers Break Record in Annual Competition. What to Know About Safe Diving

By Leesfield & Partners

Divers broke records this year in an annual competition to remove invasive lionfish from Florida waters, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission press release.

The 2024 Lionfish Season concluded with a record-breaking 31,773 species being pulled from the water. Just under 300 divers went on over 700 trips throughout the state to retrieve the animals that are dangerous to native fish and coral reefs.

One lionfish can reduce a native reef fish population by over 70%. They also present a risk to humans with their venomous spines which can cause painful stings. In 2022, over 25,000 lionfish were removed from Florida waters in FWC’s annual, summer-long challenge, which began in 2016.

Published on: September 18, 2024

Family Grieves the Snorkeling Death of a Couple on Maui Vacation. What to Know to Stay Safe on the Water.

By Leesfield & Partners

A woman pregnant with her second child and her husband have died following a snorkeling incident while on vacation in Maui.

The tragedy took place on Saturday, Sept. 14 just after noon on the north side of Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve, according to reporting from national news outlets.

The couple was out snorkeling while their oldest son, an 18-month-old, stayed with his aunt and uncle. The woman, 26-year-old Sophia Tsaruk, was allegedly found by a rescue team member on a jet ski who brought her to shore to begin CPR. Her husband, Ilya Tsaruk, 25, was found by firefighters with the Maui County Fire Department approximately 100-150 yards away from the shore.

Published on: September 18, 2024

Helicopter Stops Speeding Boat from Hitting Swimmers, Preventing a ‘Mass Casualty Disaster,’ Officials Say

By Leesfield & Partners

A speeding boat gunning for hundreds of swimmers and kayakers participating in a local event in Islamorada Saturday was stopped by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission helicopter.

“From our angle, he was the only thing stopping that boat from going across all of those people,” Capt. Matt Bellinger, a local fishing guide who was on the water that day, told reporters with Florida Keys News.

The driver of the boat, identified as 55-year-old Thomas Michael Reichert, of Naples, Florida, was charged with boating under the influence, possessing spiny lobster tails and operating a boat in a safety zone, local news outlets reported Wednesday. Reichert is alleged to have 12 wrung tails on board, a second-degree misdemeanor.

Published on: September 18, 2024

Boat of Missing Man, 70, Found off Florida Gulf Coast

By Leesfield & Partners

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday that it was suspending its 8,462-square-mile search for a missing 70-year-old man following news of his boat being found abandoned, according to reporting from local news outlets.

Bert Erwin was on a 150-mile trip up Florida’s coast from Marco Island to Indian Rocks Beach and was reported missing Wednesday by a good Samaritan, according to a Coast Guard press release. The person who reported him missing told Coast Guard officials that Erwin was overdue to reach his destination, Indian Rocks Beach.

He was last seen Monday leaving Rose Marina on Marco Island.

Published on: August 30, 2024

Southwest Florida County Reports Spike in Legionnaires’ Disease with three happening within the same community, neighbors say.

By Leesfield & Partners

About eight cases of Legionnaires’ Disease have been reported recently in Lee County, tallying 48 cases so far this year within the Southwest Florida community.

About three of the eight occurred within the same neighborhood after three women were reported to have pulled weeds in their garden, according to reporting from local news outlets. Two of the women have since died.

Information about how the women were infected was not immediately available.

Published on: August 28, 2024

Teen killed after being struck by boat propeller. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

An 18-year-old died when she was hit by a propeller trying to board a New Jersey boat over the weekend officials say.

The teen was on a raft being pulled by the boat and, when she tried to get on the boat, was hit by the propeller. Additional details were not immediately available Tuesday. The investigation is ongoing.

Officials urged boaters and swimmers alike to be advised of boating safety and propeller safety protocols stating that even when in neutral or at rest, propellers can still present a danger.

Published on: August 22, 2024

Parents of boy killed in St. Petersburg boat crash sue family of minor operating the vessel. What to Know about Florida’s Boater Age Requirements.

By Leesfield & Partners

Two families have filed lawsuits in a March St. Petersburg boat crash that resulted in a wrongful death case of a 15-year-old boy, according to reporting from local news outlets.

The crash happened near Bayshore Blvd in Shore Acres in St. Petersburg after a family get-together in which at least two boys went for an afternoon boat ride. Both boys were thrown into the water after the 18-foot vessel slammed into a concrete dock. They were taken to the hospital where one of them later died from his injuries. The other, the one who was driving the boat that day, had non-life-threatening injuries.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed last week, claims that the parents of the boy who was driving the boat the day of the crash purchased the vessel for him and allowed him to routinely use it without supervision and without ensuring that the teens were not taking alcohol on board. It goes on to allege that the boy told good Samaritans who pulled him out of the water that, at the time of the crash, he was looking down at his phone to change the music.

Published on: August 16, 2024

Deluge projected to hit Miami-Dade County prompts NWS advisories. What to Know

By Leesfield & Partners

Forecasters with the National Weather Service are predicting heavy rain, floods, thunderstorms and gusts as high as 18 mph in South Florida Friday with the bad weather continuing into the weekend.

Scattered thunderstorms could bring wind gusts and heavy downpours starting Friday afternoon, according to NWS predictions. Up to an inch of rain is expected in some parts of Miami-Dade County during the day Friday and up to inches are expected at night.

The hazardous weather had most of the county and neighboring parts of South Florida under a flash flood warning and flood advisories Thursday, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. Community leaders and forecasters alike urged the public to never drive through flooded roads as there is no telling how deep the flooding has become and low visibility can make it easy to accidentally drive off-road into a canal. The majority of flood deaths occur in vehicles from people attempting to drive through waters and getting stuck, NWS officials said.

Published on: August 15, 2024

Police: “It didn’t look like there was any effort to stop,” in Florida Keys crash that killed two earlier this week

By Leesfield & Partners

A 9-year-old boy and his father, 47, were identified as the two people killed when a personal watercraft crashed earlier this week into a Marathon, Florida, sea wall.

The two crashed on a 2018 Yamaha personal watercraft just before 7 p.m. in a Boot Key Harbor canal near 15th Street Ocean. The father was thrown over the handlebars of the personal watercraft and catapulted nearly 20 feet away onto land, according to reporting from the Keys Weekly. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neighbors rushed to where the boy had landed in the water to try and help until deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office arrived. The boy was helicoptered out but went into cardiac arrest while on his way to Miami Children’s Hospital. First responders made an emergency landing at Mariners Hospital in Tavernier where he died.