7 Thrown Into Water, 1 Hurt After Drunken Driver Crashes Boat: PD

GREAT SOUTH BAY, NY - A Bay Shore man was charged with boating while intoxicated after a boat crash that left one person injured in the Great South Bay on Sunday afternoon, according to Suffolk Police.

Javier Torres, 48, was operating a 19-foot center console Key West boat when a pump malfunctioned and the vessel began taking on water just south of the Bay Shore Marina, police said.

He brought the boat to a hard stop, filling the vessel with more water and causing it to capsize, police said.

As a result, Torres and six passengers were thrown into the water when the boat overturned, police said.

Officers Robert Reuter and Shane Parker arrived on scene and pulled two people out of the water.

The remaining five boaters were helped by 54-year-old Jeff Sperling and his daughters 15-year-old Emily Sperling and 14-year-old Jessica Sperling, all of Bay Shore, who were tubing nearby.

The two teenagers jumped into the water to bring life vests to the stranded boaters until they could be aided by the Coast Guard.

One passenger, 31-year-old Omar Rivera-Nelson, of Brentwood was taken via ambulance to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

No other injuries were reported.

Torres was charged with BWI. He was held overnight at the Third Precinct and is scheduled for arraignment on Monday.