New York City Crime News

NYC Boat Capsize: ICE Detains Captain as Mother and Baby Die

Manuel Hernandez, 46, the captain of an overcrowded Yamaha motorboat that capsized off lower Manhattan, was arrested by ICE after the Coast Guard found he lacked valid residency documents. He’s charged in Manhattan federal court with two counts of misconduct of a ship officer resulting in death under the seaman’s manslaughter statute for hosting 14 people on a vessel with a 10-person limit and reportedly taking a baby not wearing a life jacket. The crash killed 27-year-old Sara Sanchez and her 5-month-old daughter Antonella Garcia; the infant’s father survived. The boat reportedly lacked Coast Guard certification, and Hernandez, who said he had been in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, faces prosecution and possible deportation after justice is served.