Man Acquitted Of Infractions In Quadruple Fatal Boating Crash
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A man involved a quadruple fatal boating crash has been acquitted of all three misdemeanor infractions he faced.
The accident happened back in 2014 on the 4th of July.
Andrew Garcia, 23, was steering his 32 foot T-topped fishing boat to the marina when he broadsided a 33 foot pleasure craft being piloted by Elias Michael Hanono, 31.
Garcia's boat, with no one any longer at the helm, went on to collide with a third vessel.
Seven people were injured and four were killed, all young people.
Among the dead were Garcia, Victoria Dempsey, Kelsie Karpiak and Jason Soleimeni, who was visiting from New York.
Tests showed Andrew Garcia had been drinking. But Hanono was cited in the accident. Police say he failed to yield the right of way, and had inadequate running lights.
Hanono was not charged with more serious criminal offenses because it could not be shown he was behaving in a criminally reckless manner. He essentially committed the alleged boating equivalent of failing to follow proper procedures at a four-way stop.
At Wednesday's bench trial, the judge acquitted Hanono of all three boating misdemeanor infractions.