The captain who allegedly helmed an over-capacity motorboat without proper certification that capsized in the waters near Liberty Island — killing a young mom and her 5-month-old daughter without a life jacket on — was on Monday hit with federal misconduct charges under the seaman’s manslaughter statute.
Manuel Hernandez, 46, appeared in Manhattan Federal Court for his presentment two days after the horrific mishap that sent all 14 people on his vessel overboard, killing Sara Sanchez of College Point, Queens, and her baby girl, Antonella Garcia.
The motorboat pilot had a forlorn expression as he was escorted into the courtroom in neoprene water shoes and ankle shackles, wearing a tattered gray T-shirt and white shorts. U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo released him on a $50,000 bond and ordered him not to operate any nautical vessels while his case is pending.
In a statement, the newly installed Manhattan U.S. attorney, Jamie McDonald, said Hernandez had put everyone onboard the vessel in grave danger by flouting common-sense safety regulations.
“The defendant allegedly flouted those regulations when he transported paying customers on a commercial vessel without appropriate licenses, overcrowded the vessel, and took on a five-month-old infant passenger, with no infant life vests onboard,” McDonald said.
“We mourn the tragic drowning deaths of the infant and her mother and urge would-be tour operators and the public to observe all safety protocols for commercial vessels.”
Hernandez was charged with two counts of misconduct or neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, alleging that his actions and omissions led the boat to capsize and to the tragic deaths of the mother and baby. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
According to the complaint, he told the feds he’d been working for the tour operator, which was not named in court docs, since last year as a freelancer — having started at the company as a limousine driver. He sometimes used his own motorboat, and on Saturday he said used a friend’s.
Not only was Hernandez hosting 14 people on the motorboat, with a maximum capacity of 10 people, but he knowingly took it on a tour of the New York Harbor with a small infant who wasn’t wearing a personal flotation device, according to the federal complaint.
He admitted to authorities that he agreed to bring out the infant without a life jacket, the complaint details. Hernandez asked the baby’s parents before boarding whether they had one, and when told they did not, he said one of the parents would need to wear one and hold the baby throughout the tour.
Both parents wore life jackets, and Sanchez held the baby throughout the trip, the complaint details.
The motorboat, measuring approximately 21 feet, capsized at 10:20 p.m., around three hours and twenty minutes after setting out, when Hernandez made a U-turn by the Statue of Liberty, bringing the vessel into a swell that authorities said was possibly caused by the wake of a larger boat passing nearby.
Hernandez tried to accelerate the throttle to pass through the swell of water, but the swell engulfed the bow of the motorboat, causing it to capsize instantly.
NYPD divers and members of the U.S. Coast Guard pulled Sanchez and her baby from the water in critical condition and rushed them to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where they were pronounced dead upon arrival. Among twelve other people rescued from the waters in varying conditions were Hernandez and Andres Garcia, Sanchez’s partner and the father of little Antonella.
The Manville, New Jersey, man was additionally piloting the motorboat without certification from the U.S. Coast Guard to operate a vessel with paying customers, nor did he have a certificate of inspection, the complaint adds. The Yamaha AR210 was, in fact, ineligible for such a certificate due to its type and size, according to authorities.
Figueredo barred Hernandez from having any contact with the passengers who were on the vessel when it capsized or with the operator of the tour the group was on, which the complaint said brands itself as a luxury provider of limousine and rental yacht services. She also issued travel restrictions limiting his movements to the Southern District of New York and New Jersey and set his next court date for Sept. 9.
Hernandez had no comment as he walked out to throngs of reporters outside the courthouse.
GoFundMe; New York Daily News
Sara Sanchez, inset, and her 5-month-old daughter died Saturday when their boat capsized in the waters near Liberty Island. (GoFundMe; New York Daily News)
Coast Guard Investigative Service Assistant Director Josh Packer said illegal charter operations posed deadly risks.
“Illegal charter operations gamble with human life, and in this case, the alleged conduct led to an unthinkable tragedy,” Packer said.
Sanchez and her surviving husband also had a 6-year-old son, Salvador, who was not on the boat, Garcia’s boss at Il Punto Ristorante in Hell’s Kitchen, Antonio Russo, told the Daily News on Sunday. He said the couple had been together for more than 10 years and that the widowed young dad “was in love with her in a very crazy way.”
Russo said the couple had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday, who chartered the boat, and that Sanchez brought her baby girl because she was still breastfeeding. The complaint said that one of the passengers had paid Hernandez approximately $1,000 in cash and an additional $800 to the tour operator, which has no record of applying for licensure with the U.S. Coast Guard, court documents say.
