Articles Tagged with “Boating Accident”

Published on:

By

A woman killed as the result of a tragic Nov. 7 boat crash in Key West has been identified by authorities as a 28-year-old Hialeah woman. 

Stephanie Rodriguez, the woman killed in the incident, was among several people who were ejected into the water after  the driver of a 39-foot Deep Impact, four-engine vessel made a sharp right turn as it traveled through the Calda Channel north of Key West. The passengers were rushed to the hospital for treatment and Rodriguez died from her injuries. 

That day, over 100 boats were in the area participating in the Key West Poker Run, a 32-year tradition of racing on the water put on by the Florida Powerboat Club. The operator of the vessel involved in the crash is a member of the Florida Powerboat Club and was participating in the annual run from  Miami to Key West this week to celebrate the Race World Offshore World Championship speedboat races, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. 

Continue reading
Published on:

By

A person has died and two others remain hospitalized after a boat overturned in Key Largo Saturday, marking at least the second boat crash in the Florida Keys in just over a week, officials say. 

Saturday’s crash happened before 10:30 a.m. when a 34-foot Nor-Tech carrying three people turned sharply, ejecting all three passengers into the water.

The three were rescued from the water by passersby and were later airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. 

Continue reading
Published on:

By

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.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

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. 

Continue reading
Published on:

By

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. 

Continue reading
Published on:

By

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. 

Continue reading
Published on:

By

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. 

Continue reading
Published on:

By

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.  

Continue reading
Published on:

By

An adult and child have died following a crash on a personal watercraft in Marathon, Florida, according to local news outlets reporting. 

Emergency responders were called to the area near 15th Street Ocean around 6:45 p.m. after the personal watercraft crashed into a sea wall.  

Police shared a photo of the mangled watercraft which was then published on various news outlet websites and social media. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the crash.

Continue reading
Published on:

By

The regular lobster season has officially begun in Florida, marking the long-awaited return of this popular recreational fishing activity. 

Below are several important safety tips and rules you should know before you head out on the water.  

Legal lobsters weigh about 1 pound and have a carapace shell of at least 3 inches or bigger. In Monroe County, you may keep six lobsters per person per day. It is not permissible to use any device that could harm the exoskeleton of spiny lobsters nor are divers allowed to separate the tail from the body or to take egg-bearing spiny lobsters in Florida waters. Recreational trapping is not allowed.

Continue reading
Badges
Badges
Contact Information
Miami Office
2350 S Dixie Hwy
Miami, FL 33133
Phone: (305) 854-4900
Fax: (305) 854-8266
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
Key West Office
615-1/2 Whitehead St
Key West, FL 33040
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
E-Mail: info@leesfield.com
Orlando / Central Florida Office
By appointments only
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
E-Mail: info@leesfield.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2016 – 2024, Leesfield & Partners
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design