Speedboat Driver Charged in Fatal Statue of Liberty Tour Capsizing
The operator of a speedboat that capsized during a nighttime Statue of Liberty tour in New York Harbor has been charged with causing the deaths of a 27-year-old mother and her 5-month-old daughter through misconduct and neglect. Federal prosecutors allege the vessel was illegally chartered, dangerously overcrowded, and operating with a series of safety violations when it overturned near Liberty Island on Saturday night.
Manuel Hernandez, 46, of Manville, New Jersey, appeared in Manhattan federal court Monday, where he was charged with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death. According to AP News, Hernandez was not required to enter a plea and was released on $50,000 bail, with conditions that he not operate boats, stay away from survivors, and remain in the New York-New Jersey area.
A Birthday Celebration Turned Tragic
The tour departed from Randall’s Island around 7 p.m. Saturday as a surprise 41st birthday celebration for Paula Rivera, organized by her husband Alexandre Raez, according to the New York Post. The group of family and friends boarded the 21-foot Yamaha AR210 for what was meant to be a memorable sightseeing voyage around the Statue of Liberty. NBC News reported the trip was arranged through Zeus Luxury Rental Inc. for $1,800.
More than three hours into the journey, at approximately 10:20 p.m., Hernandez made a U-turn while heading toward the Statue of Liberty, bringing the vessel into a swell possibly caused by the wake of a larger passing vessel. He tried to accelerate through the swell, but water swamped the bow and the boat immediately capsized, throwing all 14 people aboard into the harbor.
Sara Sanchez, 27, of College Point, Queens, and her daughter Antonella Garcia were recovered unresponsive from the water by police divers and Coast Guard members. Both received CPR and were taken to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, where they were pronounced dead. Eleven other passengers and Hernandez survived and were rescued by a combination of commercial vessels, NYPD Harbor Unit, Coast Guard, and FDNY responders.
A Pattern of Alleged Safety Violations
Federal prosecutors detailed a litany of alleged violations in their criminal complaint. Hernandez was not licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard and had never obtained a Merchant Mariner Credential or Certificate of Inspection, both required for operating a vessel carrying paying passengers. The boat, which had a maximum capacity of 10 people, was carrying 14. There were no child- or infant-sized personal flotation devices on board, despite federal regulations requiring children under 13 to wear appropriate flotation devices.
According to Fox News, Hernandez admitted to investigators that he had previously piloted at least two other boat tours for the same company without required credentials, being paid about $1,000 for each. He told investigators he had worked for Zeus Luxury on a freelance basis since 2025, starting as a limousine driver before transitioning to boat tours.
The New York Post reported that Hernandez used a friend’s boat on Saturday because his own vessel needed repairs, without informing the owner he was using it for a commercial tour with paying customers.
Before boarding, Hernandez asked Sanchez and her partner Andres Garcia whether they had an infant-sized flotation device for their baby. When they said they did not, he instructed one parent to wear a life vest and hold the baby throughout the tour. Sanchez did so.
“Federal regulations and maritime safety protocols exist to protect the lives and well-being of passengers on commercial vessels,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald of the Southern District of New York said in a statement. “The defendant allegedly flouted those regulations when he transported paying customers on a commercial vessel without appropriate licenses, overcrowded the vessel, and took a five-month-old infant passenger with no infant life vests on board.”
Troubling History for Zeus Luxury
The incident is not the first tragedy linked to Zeus Luxury Rental Inc. In June 2025, a boat on a company-organized charter cruise burst into flames near the Bronx in Long Island Sound. All 22 passengers survived, with some pulled from the water and others swimming to safety on nearby Hart Island. Three passengers were injured, and Loriann Garcia went into cardiac arrest and is now suing the company. The pilot of that boat, Joshua Brito, was indicted on charges including vehicular assault and reckless endangerment.
Rose Day, the lawyer representing Loriann Garcia, told AP News that the company has a pattern of recklessness: “This is just a fly-by-night company… Here we are, same thing, one year later. Same company, same reckless acts. It’s shocking that this has happened and sickening at the same time.”
Coast Guard Investigative Service Assistant Director Josh Packer said illegal charter operations “gamble with human life,” adding, “In this case, the alleged conduct led to an unthinkable tragedy.”
A Community in Mourning
The grieving community has rallied around Andres Garcia, who survived the capsizing and is now caring for the couple’s 6-year-old son, Salvador, whose birthday fell the week of the tragedy. A GoFundMe campaign organized by Garcia’s friends and colleagues had topped $25,000 by Monday afternoon.
Antonio Russo, general manager of Il Punto Restaurant where Garcia works, described him as a hardworking, dedicated family man who supported his family both in New York and in his home country of Colombia. “He told me how blessed he felt to have such a wife… that he was very grateful to have her and that he felt so lucky and blessed,” Russo recalled, as reported by NBC News.
Elizabeth Velez, a survivor who held baby Antonella moments before the capsizing while Sanchez searched for a life jacket, described the infant as “a very happy girl. She didn’t cry the whole way.” Velez told the New York Post that “it was a celebration, and it ended in tragedy.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the “tragedy could have been prevented, and now a family is left to grieve the unimaginable loss of a mother and her five-month-old daughter because of his negligence.”
What’s Next
Hernandez faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the two federal charges, for a maximum of 20 years if convicted. His court-appointed attorney, Amy Gallicchio, declined to comment as she led him to a waiting vehicle following Monday’s hearing.
Federal prosecutors said Hernandez will be tried in federal court rather than state court, where he had initially faced 13 counts of reckless endangerment filed by the NYPD, as reported by The Guardian. The Coast Guard and federal investigators continue to review the circumstances surrounding the capsizing, and the case has raised broader questions about the enforcement of safety regulations for harbor tour operators in New York.
As the legal process unfolds, the focus remains on a family left to grieve an unimaginable loss — and on the safety failures that authorities say made the tragedy preventable.