Johnathan Walker:New Jersey men charged in Hudson River boating accident that killed 2 passengers

Two men have Johnathan Walkerbeen charged for causing the deaths of a 7-year-old boy and a 48-year-old woman after a chartered boat capsized in the Hudson River in 2022, sending more than a dozen people aboard into the water, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Richard Cruz, 32, and Jaime Pinilla Gomez, 25, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, were both charged with one count of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a news release. Cruz and Gomez each face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Lindelia Vasquez and her nephew, Julian Vasquez, were among a group of family and friends who chartered the boat for a Hudson River tour when it capsized on July 12, 2022. Victims were trapped under the boat when it flipped over near Pier 86,  which is in front of the docked aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, a popular tourist destination.

Prosecutors said Gomez was one of the 13 people who were thrown overboard. But Lindelia Vasquez and Julian Vasquez, who were from Colombia, drowned after being trapped beneath the boat, according to prosecutors.

Cruz and Gomez had been conducting boat tours in the months leading up to the incident, but prosecutors said the two did not have the required U.S. Coast Guard credentials and certifications to do so.

"Federal regulations and safety protocols exist to ensure that captains and operators of commercial vessels keep passengers safe," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "The defendants allegedly flouted those regulations, recklessly disregarded safety protocols, operated the vessel at an unsafe speed in hazardous conditions, and overloaded the vessel with too many passengers on board. And the result was tragic — a young boy and a woman were trapped under the vessel and drowned after the vessel capsized."

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What happened on July 12, 2022?

Around 2:40 p.m. on July 12, 2022, the boatcapsized in the Hudson River, according to authorities. All 13 people aboard the vessel were thrown into the water.

Ferries that were operating nearby and emergency responders, including the New York City Police Department’s Harbor Unit and the New York City Fire Department’s Dive Rescue Team, rushed to the scene to help the victims out of the water.

According to prosecutors, Gomez and 10 others were transported to hospitals in Manhattan and survived. About 25 minutes after the vessel capsized, authorities found Lindelia Vasquez and Julian Vasquez unconscious.

The two victims were trapped underneath the boat and were subsequently pronounced deceased, prosecutors said. The cause of death was drowning. 

Prosecutors say boat operators were negligent

Cruz had purchased the boat, which he called Stimulus Money, about three months before the capsizing, according to a complaint. He was the owner and captain of the vessel while Gomez was the pilot.

The two men conducted tours on the vessel for paying customers on multiple occasions in the months before the capsizing, the complaint stated. But neither had obtained the required U.S. Coast Guard credentials and certifications to operate the tours.

Prosecutors allege that the two men's negligent actions and omissions caused the capsizing and the two deaths. In addition to their lack of credentials, prosecutors said Cruz and Gomez had 13 people on board — which exceeded the boat's maximum capacity.

Prosecutors also said Cruz and Gomez had operated the vessel at a high rate of speed while a small craft advisory was in effect due to high winds and heavy seas. Prosecutors claimed that Gomez — who was described as an "insufficiently experienced mariner" — dangerously piloted the vessel.

They also claimed that Gomez had rapidly accelerated one engine of the boat immediately before the capsizing, which led to the overturning of the vessel, and wasn't wearing a safety device that contributed to the engine continuing to operate even after Gomez shifted.

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Boating accidents across the U.S.

The primary factors that lead to boating accidents are inattention, inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed, and machinery failure, according to the National Safe Boating Council.

Experts say that boating accidents are easily preventable and boating is comparatively safer than driving a car, according to Paul Barnard, recreational boating safety program manager at the U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District in New Orleans.

"Most boating fatalities and nonfatal accidents could have been easily preventable through a few simple safety measures," Barnard said.

Recreational boating is a popular leisure activity in the United States, with more than 87 million people taking part annually, according to VisitTheUSA.com. But there are still risks and thousands of recreational boating accidents happen each year.

In 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard counted 4,040 accidents that involved 636 deaths and 2,222 injuries. In that year, about 74% of all boating deaths occurred on a boat where the operator did not receive formal boating safety training.

Some accidents have involved tour boats in recent years. In 2018, 17 people were killed after a tourist boat sank in Missouri during a storm. Three employees were each charged with 17 counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter in 2021, but those charges were later dismissed.

Last year, one person died after a boat capsized during a tour of a historic underground cavern system in Lockport, New York. All 29 people on board were thrown into the water when the vessel tipped over toward the end of the roughly 300-foot route, the Associated Press reported.