Rider arrests draw applause
By Kevin Wadlow Senior Staff Writer kwadlow@keynoter.com
Posted-Tuesday, June 10, 2008 6:49 PM EDT Email this story
The arrests of three Miami-area men for recklessly operating personal watercraft near Key Largo Sunday reportedly prompted both applause and complaints from witnesses, according to marine officers.
The three defendants - Vilier Nogueira, 28; Yant Garcia, 27; and Silvio Alvez, 21 - face misdemeanors count of recklessly operating a vessel.
“They were doing circles and using their watercraft to spray each other,” said Officer Bobby Dube, information officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “They were riding recklessly near a swim area where women and children were in the water.”
Officer Wade Heffner made the arrests at Tarpon Basin after watching through binoculars. The agency had received “several calls” about the riders.
Personal watercraft are small jet-powered watercraft, including models like the Kawasaki Jet Ski or Yamaha Wave Runner.
“They were operating in a willful and wanton manner close to shore,” Dube said. “If one of them had fallen off their vessel, it could have hit an innocent bystander. It was fortunate nobody was killed or injured.”
A crowd at the subdivision park area, on the bayside off mile marker 101, was divided on the arrests, Dube said.
“There were a lot of happy people there who applauded,” he said. “Some friends and family members were not happy and made a bit of a commotion.”
Heffner said in his report that when the FWC patrol boat approached, the three men jumped off their watercraft and tried to mingle with the crowd.
“It wasn't hard to find them,” Dube said. “They were the wet ones wearing lifejackets.”
They were released after booking at the Plantation Key jail. The charge carries a mandatory court appearance.
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4 comments:
It's about time someone called!!!!!
The jet ski's are getting out of control! As is the beach in general.
It's all of OUR responsiblities!
JET SKI ARRESTs
Finally! The 3 jet skiers deserve the tickets because they have shown complete disregard for the beach area. The riders have all of Tarpon basin to drive recklessly, why do they insist on staying so close to the beach and endangering bathers? We do not want the next news story to read "...bathers killed by erratic jet skiers..." Please drive carefully as the life you save may be yours or your family members.
I personally think that the arrests were uncalled for i was on the each that day and yes the three people riding the waverunners were riding them hard but they were not close to the beach they were out almost at the channel markers. and anyways waverunners were made to be ridden hard and fast and spin around in? the people in question that were arrested were residents of our community that own more than three properties in our park and pay all their dues and fees. they dont bother any of you all and contribute to all your fundraisers. the only reason they were arrested was because someone from our community who is too much of a coward to come forward called the police and had these family men arrested in front of their children for riding a freakin waverunner too fast. i'm sorry if all the old farts that live in our park which half of you don't even pay the association fees and have your properties looking like crap have a problem with acouple of young people having fun with their families. i just hope i have the opportunity to catch one you old farts doing something out of line around one of my properties so that i can show you how it feels to be arrested right in front of your family for no reason. why don't you guys concentrate your efforts on something productive like making our beach look better with some new sand or fixing up all your broke down ugly piece of crap trailers!
Hey man dont be retarded, wait till its your kids swimming at that beach, then you wont shoot your mouth off. I was there to, and they were less than 50 feet out plenty of times so dont talk about the police if you dont know what you are talking about.
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