Cops: Boater in fatal crash off Seaford legally drunk
Three people died on this speedboat after driver George Canni, 65, crashed into a marsh near Seaford on Oct. 4th, 2009. The boat wreckage is being kept in an East Rockaway warehouse. (Oct. 21, 2009) Credit: Charles Eckert
The driver of a speedboat that crashed earlier this month off Seaford, killing him, his wife and a friend, and critically injuring four others, was legally drunk, Nassau police said Wednesday.
Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, the department's spokesman, said readings from the county medical examiner's office showed George Canni, 65, of Copiague, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent when his 40-foot Hustler veered out of a channel the evening of Oct. 4.
>>PHOTOS: Latest photos of the accident scene and the victims
The 0.08 percent BAC is the minimum threshold for boating while intoxicated.
Smith said toxicology results are still pending from the medical examiner. They would show whether Canni had drugs or other substances in him at the time of the crash. Smith declined to comment further.
The boat crashed onto the shore of Goose Island. In addition to Canni, his wife, Theresa Maniaci-Canni, 46, and friend Joseph Sugamele, 50, were killed.
>>VIDEO: Click here to see victims escorted to ambulances on the night of the accident.
The survivors, who suffered various neck, spinal and leg injuries, were Peter Sofia, 54, of Farmingdale; Tom Sulori, 48, and his wife, Laura, 54, of Massapequa; and Sugamele's wife, Deborah, 50. The four remain hospitalized at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.
The crash occurred after the group had left a Freeport restaurant and fish market with lobsters they planned to cook at the Cannis' home for dinner, according to friends.
James Mercante of Manhattan, a maritime lawyer representing the Cannis' estate, said Wednesday he couldn't comment on the reading because he hadn't been notified by police.
"It's not always what it seems at first blush," said Mercante, adding he would be doing his own investigation. "It may have had nothing to do with alcohol at all."
Larry Weiss, a spokesman for United States Power Squadrons in New York, a boating safety organization, said: "The channels on the South Shore are narrow, they're winding, they're complicated, they're shallow and even with local knowledge and experience, they're difficult to maneuver. . . . Add to that alcohol and darkness, and you have a catastrophe waiting to happen."
>>PHOTOS: Latest photos of the accident scene and the victims
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 25: Wrestling and hockey state championships On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay recap all the state wrestling action from Albany this past weekend, plus Jared Valluzzi has the ice hockey championship results from Binghamton.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 25: Wrestling and hockey state championships On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay recap all the state wrestling action from Albany this past weekend, plus Jared Valluzzi has the ice hockey championship results from Binghamton.
