The two men in charge of a small boat that capsized on the Hudson River in 2022 were charged Thursday in the deaths of two people onboard.
Richard Cruz, 32, and Jaime Pinilla Gomez, 25, were accused of neglecting their duties and causing the deaths of Lindelia Vasquez, 48, and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian.
Cruz and Gomez made a slew of reckless decisions, all of which combined to cause the disaster, according to federal investigators. They were arrested Thursday in Elizabeth, N.J. and hauled to Manhattan Federal Court.
The two men “recklessly disregarded safety protocols, operated the vessel at an unsafe speed in hazardous conditions and overloaded the vessel with too many passengers onboard,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release.
Cruz owned the boat that capsized on July 12, 2022 near 50th Street. He bought the vessel, named “Stimulus Money,” in April 2022 and began offering paid tours on the Hudson shortly after, according to the feds.
Even offering the tours was illegal, as Cruz never had the boat inspected by the Coast Guard, investigators said. Such inspections are required when charging people for boat rides.
On the day of the wreck, the ship was overloaded with people, feds said. The 24-foot 2020 Yamaha AR 240 had a maximum capacity of 12 people, but a total of 13 were onboard when the speedboat capsized.
Gomez, an inexperienced mariner, was driving the boat, while 12 people were riding as passengers, according to investigators. Cruz was following behind on a jet ski.
Cruz and Gomez additionally ignored a small craft advisory from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which warned of high winds and rough seas that would be dangerous for the “Stimulus Money.”
The Vasquez family tour group met Cruz and Gomez at a boat launch in Carteret, N.J. around 11 a.m. on the day of the wreck, investigators said. The tour of the Statue of Liberty and other sites was completed with little issue, and the group then headed back to Carteret.
The “Stimulus Money” was traveling at 25 to 35 knots when it encountered swells near Manhattan’s Pier 90, investigators said. According to video footage reviewed by police, Gomez decided to take those swells head-on.
When that didn’t work and the boat took on water, Gomez brought it to a stop, then pushed the boat’s right-side engine to full throttle, causing it to capsize to the left, according to Coast Guard investigators.
All 13 people onboard were thrown into the water. Gomez and 10 passengers were rescued by other boats on the Hudson at the time.
Julian and Lindelia Vasquez were found dead about 25 minutes after the boat flipped. They had been trapped under the vessel.
“There were about four people on top of the bottom of the boat screaming,” Raidy Garcia, a witness on the New Jersey shoreline, told the Daily News at the time. “I couldn’t make out anything other than their screams.”
The vessel came equipped with an emergency kill switch lanyard, designed to shut down the engines if the operator suddenly leaves the captain’s position. However, Gomez was not wearing the lanyard when he accelerated the right-side engine.
“If the lanyard had been attached to Gomez properly, the engines may have been stopped as Gomez was shifted from the helm due to the vessel beginning to turn towards its port side,” the feds wrote in charging documents. “Therefore, if Gomez had been wearing the lanyard, the vessel may not have overturned.”
Federal prosecutors laid out four specific reasons they believed Cruz and Gomez were to blame for the disaster: the overloaded boat, the boat’s speed in choppy waters, ignorance of Coast Guard inspection and Gomez’s dangerous operation of the boat.
“This case demonstrates the deadly consequences of illegal passenger operations,” Rear Adm. John Mauger said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, if Cruz and Gomez had bothered to have the boat inspected, it would have failed and been barred from carrying paying customers.
Cruz and Gomez were each charged with one count of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death. They both face a maximum of 10 years in prison.
