2 Fishermen Rescued A Mile Off Shore On Long Island Sound

SMITHTOWN, NY — Two friends are "lucky to be alive after a fun day of fishing in the Long Island Sound went terribly wrong," say Town of Smithtown officials. Jose Flores and Franklin Bonilla, of Brentwood, were fishing when their canoe capsized roughly a mile off the shore of Sunken Meadow State Park at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Smithtown Public Safety bay constables David Rosenberg, Blake Gifford and Carmine Aro were on patrol, exiting the mouth of the Nissequogue River, when Rosenberg noticed the two men floating. As they steered the air boat closer, the bay constables saw the fishermen waving and yelling for help next to their overturned canoe.

Flores and Bonilla were pulled aboard the air boat by Gifford and Aro, where they were quickly evaluated for injuries. The bay constables then removed the submerged canoe from the Long Island Sound.

Flores told his rescuers that he and his friend were fishing, using an old car part for an anchor. About an hour into fishing, they realized that the makeshift anchor had broken from the canoe, and they drifted a great distance from the shore. The two friends flipped the vessel in the process of attempting to paddle back to Sunken Meadow. Neither man knew how to swim. They were both wearing personal flotation devices, however.

The Smithtown bay constables safely returned Flores, Bonilla and their canoe to Sunken Meadow State Park. No one was injured, officials said.