Cops: Bronx man dies after jumping from fishing boat to avoid collision

A Bronx man apparently drowned after jumping from a boat in the Long Island Sound, fearing a collision with an oncoming boat, New York City police said Saturday.

Police identified the victim as Jesus Ortega, 46.

Police said Ortega and another man were fishing in an anchored boat near the Stepping Stones Lighthouse, off Kings Point in Nassau County, around midnight Friday.

The surviving man told police that he and Ortega leaped into the water as a vessel approached in the night, police said.

"There was a boat approaching them, and they both jumped out, fearing a possible collision," an NYPD spokesman said. "One of them was able to get back on the boat, and the other one obviously wasn't."

Police responding to a 911 call said they found the 53-year-old survivor, who they did not identify, in the boat and quickly spotted Ortega in the water nearby.

Police said Ortega was unresponsive when they pulled him from the water. They transported Ortega to SUNY Maritime College, where emergency responders met them, police said.

Ortega was pronounced dead upon arrival at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, police said.

The New York City medical examiner's office is investigating the cause of death, police said.