A woman died after she was ejected from a boat in the Florida Keys over the weekend, according to reporting from NBC 6 South Florida.
The woman, 52, of Hialeah, Florida, was on a 35-foot SeaVee Sunday, Aug. 16 with at least three others, police told reporters. The vessel was traveling north on the Intracoastal Waterway near Tavernier and, as it made a turn, all passengers were ejected into the water.
At least two other people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, the station reported.
A 44-foot yacht was destroyed in a blaze that broke out at a Key Largo marina ahead of the July Fourth weekend, according to officials with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The fire broke out Thursday at the Anchorage Resort & Yacht Club in Key Largo. Thankfully, MCSO officials reported, no one was on board the boat at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The blaze appeared to have been contained to the singular vessel and no further damage was reported.
No cause of the fire has been publicly released. Photos posted online by the MCSO show firefighters battling the blaze and the singed vessel immediately following the fire.
At least one woman was taken to the hospital, and another person was injured after a boat crashed into a Florida Keys channel over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to local media.
The crash happened Sunday, July 5, around 3:20 p.m., reporters with The Miami Herald said. The vessel that the two were on crashed into the Harris Gap Channel Bridge on Sugarloaf Key. At least one other person was aboard the vessel at the time of the crash and was injured, according to Local 10 News.
The woman, whose name has not been released as of Monday, July 6, was taken to a hospital on the mainland for treatment. A spokesperson for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) told reporters that she had non-life-threatening injuries. It is unclear whether the second person required transport to a local hospital.
Police in Sarasota flagged down a young boy who was operating a jet ski by himself in June, resulting in legal trouble for his parents and a hot debate online.
“That’s right, you have to be 14 in the state of Florida,” Ron Dixon, the officer with the Sarasota Police Marine Patrol Unit who was involved, later told a reporter with Fox 13 Tampa Bay News.
The incident occurred on Sunday, June 14, in the waters of Big Pass when the officer, who was out on the water on his own vessel, flagged down the 8-year-old operator. In bodycam footage of the event, the minor can be seen approaching the officer’s boat wearing a life jacket.
“Florida is the boating capital of the world, but sadly, it is also the boating fatality capital of the world.”
These are the words of Partner Justin B. Shapiro of Leesfield & Partners. With decades of practice representing the injured individuals and grieving families of those involved in some of Florida’s most horrific boating and water-related incidents, our attorneys understand the magnitude of this pressing safety issue. From a young diver and father-to-be whose life was prematurely snuffed out by a negligent boater to the loss of a child’s leg while aboard a vessel, our skilled trial attorneys have seen just about every injury that can occur on the water. With this experience comes an increased vigilance toward the dangers, and the urgency to create positive change.
Last July, when Lucy’s Law—legislation named in honor of 17-year-old Luciana ‘Lucy’ Fernandez, who died in the 2022 Boca Chita boat crash—went into effect, our attorneys applauded the move and saw it as a sign for increased vigilance and safety on the water.
The Florida Keys is canonically associated with margaritas and lounge chairs, but the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is only warning users about the latter.
At least 1500 Giantex outdoor lounge chairs were recalled due to amputation concerns, according to the USCPSC. Those with the blue model number NP10025NY measuring 76-inches long, by 23-inches wide, by 13-inches high are instructed to contact Giantex for a full refund. Consumers may request a prepaid return package or will be asked by the company to destroy the recalled chair and provide photographic evidence of destruction, according to USCPSC officials.
Consumers may destroy their product by detaching the headrest pillow and cutting the fabric. The recall comes after at least one report of a consumer’s finger being amputated while they adjusted the lounge chair.
Community members throughout the Florida Keys are rallying together to support a house fire relief fund after a tragic fire displaced two law enforcement officers this week, according to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Facebook re-post.
The incident occurred Thursday, May 7 and involved the home of Mike Pettee and Tiffany Rodda. Pettee is an officer for the Key West Police Department and Rodda is a deputy with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
“In a matter of moments, everything they worked so hard to build was gone,” community members wrote in an update to the couple’s GoFundMe, an online fundraising platform.
A 56-year-old man snorkeling near Key West Sunday afternoon died after being found unconscious in the water on Sunday, May 10, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Benjamin Lee Millspaw, of Belmont, North Carolina, was swimming off Cottrell Key around noon when he was pulled from the water. Millspaw was with a commercial snorkeling company, officials said.
He was taken to the Lower Keys Medical Center and was pronounced dead.
Boater in Deadly Biscayne Bay Hit-And-Run Crash Found, police say
Police say they have found the boat they believe was involved in a hit-and-run boat crash on Biscayne Bay that killed a father and injured his son last week in Miami, according to local media.
Police did not name the owner of the boat or say who was operating the vessel the night of the deadly crash.
An Indian tourist has been identified as the man who died Wednesday, March 16, while scuba diving, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
Abhinav Lamba, 43, was found in distress by a commercial dive crew on Molasses Reef at around 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 16. The crew brought him onto their boat and performed CPR while taking him to shore. Emergency responders took him to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier where he later died.
An autopsy will be performed to determine a cause and manner of death, however, officials told reporters that they do not suspect foul play.
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