Fishermen rescued from Long Island Sound

After a search that took more than half an hour, two brothers from Brooklyn were rescued from the choppy waters of the Long Island Sound by Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers Monday evening, police said.

Police said the two, identified as Gustavo Quinones, 30, and Gusmil Quinones, 35, had launched off Shoreham Beach in Shoreham in a six-foot inflatable raft to go fishing, but were knocked into the water by “a rogue wave.” Fortunately, police said, the two men both wore life jackets and, as a result, neither were injured — despite being in the water for more than one hour clinging to an inflatable seat cushion.

The incident was reported in a 911 call at about 7:30 p.m. 

Marine Bureau officers Cory Kim and Robert Reed, aboard Marine Delta, responded to the area, aided by a police helicopter.

The officers heard the brothers shouting for help, but could not immediately locate them in the dark, police said.

The helicopter crew was then able to locate the brothers with a searchlight, which helped Kim and Reed pull the two from the Sound and safely transport them back to shore, police said.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

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.”