Cops rescue man floating in Sound after empty boat spotted by fisherman
A fisherman helped save the life of a Ronkonkoma man Tuesday when he spotted the man's unoccupied boat in the Long Island Sound and reported it to police, who found the man floating in the water, police said.
As officers for Suffolk County's marine police were responding to the noontime call from the fisherman, they received a separate 911 call saying a person was yelling for help in the water off Old Field Road in Setauket, police said.
Officers Cory Kim and Gregory Stroh located Wen Zhong Wang, 37, about 1/10th of a mile from shore. Wang, who was not wearing a life jacket, had been in the water about 45 minutes, police said.
He said he had been knocked off his 9-foot skiff when it was hit by the wake from a passing boat. His skiff had drifted away, police said.
Wang was transported to the Port Jefferson boat ramp where he was evaluated by medical personnel and released.
Police said they did not know the identity of the fisherman, who towed the skiff to shore.
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
