Woman, infant dead after boat overturns in New York Harbor, police say
A 27-year-old woman and a 5-month-old baby died after a boat capsized in New York Harbor on Aug. 8, the New York City Police Department said.
The operator of a boat that capsized in New York Harbor earlier this month, killing a woman and an infant, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and authorities said they will seek to deport him.
The boat overturned near the Statue of Liberty on Aug. 8, authorities previously said. A 911 call came in at about 10:30 p.m., and multiple boat teams, a scuba team and a helicopter unit responded. Twelve people were rescued from the water, but a 27-year-old woman and her 5-month-old baby were pronounced dead at a hospital.
The boat’s operator, 46-year-old Manuel Ernesto Hernandez-Umana, has been charged federally with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, each of which could lead to up to 10 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Aug. 10. The New York Police Department also said he faced charges of 13 counts of reckless endangerment.
On Aug. 19, the Department of Homeland Security announced he was arrested by ICE.
DHS said Hernandez told investigators he entered the United States illegally through Texas in 2007, lying to a border officer and falsely claiming to be U.S. citizen so he could enter the country, DHS said. Hernandez is a national of El Salvador and lived in Manville, New Jersey.
“Once he faces justice for his crimes, we will make sure that he is swiftly removed from our country,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
Amy Gallicchio, Hernandez’s public defender, declind to comment on Aug. 20.
What happened in the boat capsizing in New York Harbor?
Hernandez was piloting the boat, a Yamaha AR210 with a capacity of 10 people, for a tour operations company, investigators said in a criminal complaint. The boat was filled over its capacity and had 14 people on board at the time it capsized, officials have said. The group had paid $1,800 for the Aug. 8 ride, the complaint said.
About three hours and 20 minutes into the ride, Hernandez piloted the vessel in a U-turn, which investigators believed brought the boat into a swell caused by a larger passing boat. The swell “swamped the bow of the Vessel andimmediately capsized the Vessel,” investigators wrote in the complaint.
Everyone on the boat was thrown overboard.
Hernandez did not have registration for the Yamaha or certification to operate the boat with paying customers, investigators said. There was no child- or infant-sized life vest on board, according to the complaint.
This story has been updated to add new information.