For Immediate Release
July 10, 2018
Incident: Officers Rescue Two Men from Capsized Boat
Location: Patchogue River Buoy One, Patchogue
Date/Time: Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 3:42 p.m.
Marine Bureau officers rescued two men who drifted more than two miles from capsized catamaran in Patchogue this afternoon.
A Davis Park ferry captain observed an unoccupied, overturned 16-foot catamaran sailboat with its mainsail set near Patchogue River Buoy 1 at 3:42 p.m. The captain radioed Marine Bureau officers via VHF radio when he did not see anyone near the vessel or in the water. Marine Bureau Officers Robert Jenkins and Steven Tarolli responded in Marine Juliet and located the two victims who had drifted more than two miles southwest from the sailboat.
Officers Jenkins and Tarolli pulled Richard Laskowski and Donald Ward Jr., aboard Marine Juliet at 3:57 p.m. The officers transported the men and towed the catamaran to Wet Pants Sailing Association, located at 30 Browns River Road in Sayville.
Laskowski, 71, of 110 Hobart St., East Islip, and Ward, 58, of 117 Hobart St., East Islip, told police they had been drifting in the water for over an hour. While stranded in the water, the men attempted to utilize a whistle to garner attention but there were no boaters nearby to hear their distress signals. Both men were wearing personal floatation devices and were showing signs fatigue but were not injured.
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Authority: Geraldine Hart, Commissioner 18-396521
Suffolk County Police Department MK/1910
