1 Arrested After Man Falls Overboard Into Long Island Bay: PD

SAYVILLE, NY — A 25-year-old Farmingville man was arrested for boating while intoxicated after the boat he was operating struck a jetty in Sayville on Monday, and one of his passengers who fell overboard into Great South Bay is still missing, Suffolk County police said.

Police said Jack Benjamin was operating a 2003 Parker center console boat in the Great South Bay when the vessel struck a jetty at the end of Browns River Road at about 1:23 a.m.

Suffolk County Fire Rescue Deputy Coordinator Paul Miller said that the Sayville Fire Department and Sayville Community Ambulance were dispatched “to a boating accident at Lands End” and when they arrived, they found a single boat was involved in a “serious accident with multiple injured people,” Miller said.

“People from the boat immediately told first responders that someone was missing from the boat,” he added.

A 25-year-old man, who was not wearing a life jacket, had been thrown overboard, police said, adding, officers, personnel from multiple fire departments, and the United States Coast Guard began a search for the man, who remains missing.

“Multiple agencies continued searching for over 6 hours for the victim,” said Miller.

Marine Bureau officers are continuing the search, police said.

Benjamin and a female passenger were transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore where they were treated and released, and three other passengers were not injured, police said.

All together a total of 12 different agencies — from the local, county, and federal levels — responded to the accident. Locally they included the Sayville, Bayport, Great River, Blue Point, Bay Shore, Islip, and West Islip fire departments.

Responding ambulance companies included Sayville Community Ambulance and Islip Exchange Ambulance. At the county level, Suffolk County Fire Rescue, as well as the police aviation and marine bureaus responded. The United States Coast Guard responded from Fire Island and also sent a helicopter from Cape Cod to aid in the search.

Benjamin’s boat was impounded, and the investigation is continuing, police said.

He was charged with Boating While Intoxicated and will be held at the 5th Precinct in Patchogue for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday.