A state lawmaker has some concerning questions into the 2022 boat crash that claimed the life of a South Florida teenager and injured another. Now she’s calling on legislators to investigate.
Florida State Rep. Vicki Lopez, the lawmaker who spearheaded a boating safety law after the Sept. 4, 2022 crash, is now calling for an independent probe into the investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, because video from body-worn cameras that four of its officers wore at the crash site was deleted.
According to The Miami Herald, the four FWC officers who were working the accident that night uploaded their bodycam video but misclassified it.
That led to the video being deleted.
Investigators said prominent Miami real estate mogul George Pino was at the helm of a 29-foot Robalo boat when it crashed into a Biscayne Bay channel marker. Seventeen-year-old Luciana Fernandez, one of the injured passengers, later died from her injuries.
Brent Fannin with the grassroots coalition Wild Florida Alliance criticized the deletion of the footage.
“It’s completely unacceptable when it comes to a man who’s killed a young girl,” he said,
Lopez, who championed a tougher boating safety law in honor of Fernandez, an Our Lady of Lourdes Academy student, took to Instagram to comment on the matter. Her post reads in part:
“Not one, not two but four officers classified this horrific accident as ‘incidental’ despite their protocol requiring that any accident with serious bodily injury or death be classified as such.”
Lopez goes on to say:
“Assume for a moment that they all made a mistake. They still had plenty of time to correct their error since body camera footage is not deleted for 90 days. It is obvious that a full investigation is warranted into what actually happened on that harrowing day.”
In bodycam video that did survive, one officer is heard reminding another to check for signs that the boat operator, Pino, had been drinking.
“Nothing happened that night other than that particular gentleman admitted that he had had two beers, and nothing was done. He was allowed to leave,” said Lopez.
Another video did record the conversation between Pino and an officer.
“I’d like to ask your permission to draw your blood. It’s up to you completely,” said an officer.
“No. I had two beers,” said Pino.
There were several partially full bottles of alcohol on board, but Pino’s attorney’s said they were collected from other boats.
Pino is now facing a charge of felony vessel homicide. He faces 15 years in prison if convicted.
The bill that Lopez sponsored is scheduled to become law July 1st.