State attorney's office files criminal charges against boat owner in deadly 2022 crash in Biscayne Bay
MIAMI -- Misdemeanor criminal charges have been filed against a boat owner in connection with a deadly crash on the water during the Labor Day holiday weekend last year, the state attorney's office announced Friday.
George Pino, 52, has been charged with one count of second-degree careless operation of a vessel causing and two second-degree counts of careless operation of a vessel causing serious bodily injury, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a written statement.
The catastrophic boat crash left 11 of 14 boat passengers hurt with six of them being taken for treatment to a local hospital where Lucy Fernandez, 17, would later die.
According to the statement, the investigation included law enforcement officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the state attorney's office.
Investigators concluded that the accident occurred off of the Florida Keys when Pino's 29-foot Robalo vessel, powered by twin 300-horsepower engines, was carrying several adults and a group of Miami area students back to the dock when it collided around 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 4, 2022 with a visible channel marker, tearing a large hole in the side of the boat and ejecting many of the boat's passengers into the water.
The parents of one of the girls who survived the crash have filed a civil lawsuit against Pino and his wife. It was not immediately clear what the status of that lawsuit was.
Rundle's office said it filed charges following an "extensive marine investigation" conducted by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission law enforcement officers (who) meticulously reviewed every aspect of the incident.
"The driving pattern of the vessel, as clearly indicated by the boat's onboard GPS system, and the fact that the boat operator was not impaired by drugs or alcohol while operating the vessel limited the criminal charges applicable to the circumstances of this incident," Rundle's statement said."
Labor Day Boat Ax by Mauricio Maldonado on Scribd
