The captain of an allegedly unlicensed boat that capsized in New York Harbor near Liberty Island over the weekend, killing a young woman and her baby, has been charged in their deaths.
Manuel Hernandez, 46, was charged Monday with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Hernandez, of Manville, New Jersey, appeared in court Monday, where he was not required to enter a plea and was released on $50,000 bail, NBC New York reported. He left with his court-appointed attorney, Amy Gallicchio, and both declined to comment, the station reported.
Gallicchio did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Queens resident Sara Sanchez, 27, and her 5-month-old daughter, Antonella Garcia, died in the tragedy Saturday evening.
Hernandez was piloting a Yamaha AR210 jet vessel Saturday night — but he had not registered it, did not have the certification to operate it in the harbor with paying customers and did not have infant-sized flotation devices on board, according to the complaint.
Furthermore, he had 14 people on board, including himself — exceeding the vessel’s maximum capacity of 10 people, the complaint alleges.
Hernandez operated the vessel while he was working for a tour operations company, which branded itself as a luxury limousine and rental yacht provider.
Saturday’s tour was for 13 passengers for a trip around the harbor near the Statue of Liberty, arranged through the tour operator for $1,800, the complaint said.
Hernandez is alleged to have told law enforcement officers in a post-arrest interview that he had periodically worked for the operator since 2025 and had piloted two similar tours on his personal boat, a Yamaha AR250 — which is similar to but larger than the vessel used in Saturday’s accident.
The night of Saturday’s tour, he used a friend’s boat, as his personal one needed mechanical repairs, but he did not inform the owner he was using it for a tour with paying customers, prosecutors allege in the complaint.
Hernandez told authorities he was unaware of the maximum capacity for the boat he was driving Saturday but knew his personal boat could take no more than 12 passengers, the complaint says. He said he initially believed Saturday’s tour would consist of 12 passengers but ultimately agreed to take 13, according to prosecutors.
The day of the trip, Sanchez was with her 5-month-old baby and the child’s father, whom co-workers identified as Andres Garcia.
Before boarding, Hernandez asked the parents whether they had an infant-sized personal flotation device for the baby, and they said they did not, according to the complaint. He told them the boat was not equipped with a child- or infant-sized personal flotation device and instead said one of them would need to wear a flotation device and hold the baby throughout the tour, which Sanchez did, the complaint alleges.
At 10:20 p.m., three hours and 20 minutes into the tour, Hernandez made a U-turn, which brought the vessel into a swell, which was “possibly caused by the wake of a larger passing vessel,” the complaint says.
