A St. Petersburg, Fla., business owner was charged July 28 in connection with a collision with the Clearwater Ferry that killed one passenger and injured 10 others April 27, Florida authorities said.
Jeff Knight, 62, was operating 37’ center console boat around 8:43 p.m. that evening when it struck the Clearwater Ferry vessel Maddie's Crossing, as the catamaran was carrying 45 passengers from Clearwater Beach back to Clearwater.
José Castro, 41, of Palm Harbor died in the crash. Knight told authorities he stayed at the scene with five passengers on his vessel for about 10 minutes to assist in rescue operations. Believing his boat was taking on water, Knight then headed to the Bellaire boat ramp about 3.5 miles away.
Knight now faces eight felony counts of leaving the scene of a boating accident involving death or serious bodily injury. Knight, who owns the St. Petersburg concert venue Jannus Live, was arrested Monday evening on a warrant issued about a month ago and Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bruce Bartlett’s office had been in talks with his lawyers, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
“He’s looking at a — potentially — a pretty good hit of prison time, because he’s going to have a lot of injury points with serious bodily injury and with the death," Bartlett told the Tampa Bay Times. “That scores in on all of it.”
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission law enforcement officers said a detailed review of evidence including surveillance video, witness statements, physical evidence and 911 call transcripts led to the charges.
"Our evidence revealed, and a lot of 911 calls evidence revealed a significant change in the demeanor was occurring and there was an attempt to leave the scene which was then tracked down," said FWC Capt. Matthew Dellarosa.
Examinations of Knight's boat "revealed that the radar system was not functioning, and we did not find any water intrusion or any significant issues that would've limited the vessels capability to remain in place that night," said Dellarosa.
Knight was released after posting a $40,000 bond.
Hayslett also wrote that Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers also found the Clearwater Ferry was in violation by not having a working stern light at the time when Knight’s center console boat struck its stern. FWC officials said they issued a misdemeanor charged to the ferry captain.
