{"id":287599,"date":"2026-05-28T14:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/287599\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T14:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:46:32","slug":"captain-in-clearwater-ferry-crash-pleads-to-lesser-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/287599\/","title":{"rendered":"Captain in Clearwater ferry crash pleads to lesser charge"},"content":{"rendered":"

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla.\u00a0\u2014 The captain at the helm of the Clearwater ferry that was involved in a fatal crash in April 2025 has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the incident.<\/p>\n

According to Spectrum Bay News 9 partner newspaper the Tampa Bay Times, ferry captain Dennis Kimerer, 65, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a civil infraction of violation of a navigational rule resulting in a boating accident. His charge initially was a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

Officials said Kimmerer\u2019s charge stemmed from his vessel not having a working stern light at the time of the accident.<\/p>\n

Kimerer will also face a $500 fine.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the trial for the man accused in the crash has been delayed.<\/p>\n

Jeffry Knight is facing eight felony counts of leaving the scene of a boat crash<\/a>. Each charge carries maximum sentences of up to 30 years in prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Knight, 63, who was arrested July 28, has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

Knight admitted he was driving his 37-foot power boat that night when it collided with the ferry near the Memorial Causeway Bridge. Jose Castro, 41, a passenger on the ferry was killed in the incident.<\/p>\n

Some of the other ferry passengers suffered injuries.<\/p>\n

Knight\u2019s trial is now scheduled to begin on Feb. 1, 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Knight\u2019s attorney previously said the ferry should have blasted a whistle or horn before the crash and suggested the ferry had more passengers onboard than allowed. Knight has denied any negligence or wrongdoing in the crash.<\/p>\n

FWC Capt. Matt DallaRosa stated shortly after the incident that Knight submitted to a breathalyzer test and there was no alcohol in his system.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla.\u00a0\u2014 The captain at the helm of the Clearwater ferry that was involved in a fatal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[274,112358,28,115,139,596,277,275,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278],"class_list":["post-287599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-top-stories","tag-clearwater-ferry-crash","tag-florida","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-pinellas-county","tag-public-safety","tag-spectrum-news-staff","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}