4 rescued after raft drifts into Long Island Sound, police say
Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued four men in a 10-foot inflatable raft in the Long Island Sound on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Credit: SCPD
Four men had to be rescued Thursday night after they went fishing in a 10-foot inflatable raft that drifted out into the Long Island Sound while a small craft advisory was in effect, Suffolk County police said.
One of the men had a cellphone and managed to call 911 after the four became stranded in the dark about 1 1/2 miles north of the Nissequogue River, police said.
Marco Murillo, 36, of Massapequa, and three friends had decided to go fishing in the raft, launching Thursday evening from Sunken Meadow State Park, police said. The wind was blowing at 20 to 25 mph, police said — and between that and tidal currents the inflatable got pulled 1 1/2 miles out into the Sound.
The raft didn’t have a motor, police said, and the four were unable to paddle back to shore.
At about 9:15 p.m., police said, one of the men called 911. Police dispatched a Marine Bureau boat and Officers Charles Marchiselli, Edmund McDowell and Erik Johnson located the raft within about 15 minutes of the emergency call, police said.
The four were taken aboard the marine unit and the crew transported them — and their raft — back to Sunken Meadow. Police said all four men were wearing life vests.
No one was injured.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
