MADEIRA BEACH — A New York man was arrested Oct. 12 after investigators say he jumped off his jet ski moments before it slammed into another watercraft carrying two young children near Madeira Beach.
Daniel Patrick Grubert, 48, of Piermont, New York, faces two counts of boating under the influence causing serious bodily injury and one count of reckless operation of a vessel, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say Grubert was racing another jet ski around 2:33 p.m. near Johns Pass when he turned around and took his eyes off the water ahead of him. When he looked forward again, investigators say, he realized a crash was about to happen and jumped off his rented 2024 Yamaha WaveRunner.
The unmanned jet ski hit another rented WaveRunner operated by Walter Wodzien, 45, of Mount Prospect, Illinois, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Wodzien had two children on board — ages 7 and 8 — when the collision threw all three into the water.
The Madeira Beach Fire Department pulled them from the water. One child was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The other child suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, deputies said. Wodzien was not hurt.
Grubert showed signs of impairment and did poorly on field sobriety tests, according to investigators. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail.
The Major Accident Investigation Team and the Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit are investigating the crash.
The incident comes nearly six months after another high-profile watercraft crash in Pinellas County. On April 27, a boat driven by St. Petersburg businessman Jeffry Knight slammed into the Clearwater Ferry near the Memorial Causeway, killing one person and injuring 10 others.
Knight, 62, was arrested in July and charged with eight felony counts of leaving the scene of a boating accident involving death or serious bodily injury, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He pleaded not guilty in August.
The crash killed Jose Castro, 41, of Palm Harbor, and left several ferry passengers with broken bones, head injuries and internal bleeding, according to an arrest affidavit. The ferry was carrying 45 passengers at the time.
Knight’s attorney has said Knight stayed at the scene for more than 11 minutes, tied his boat to the ferry and directed a passenger to call 911. He passed a field sobriety test and was not charged with impairment. Knight’s attorney has also alleged the ferry lacked a working stern light at the time of the crash. The ferry captain, Dennis Kimerer, was charged with violating a navigation rule related to the missing light.