The captain who helmed a motorboat that capsized in the waters off lower Manhattan near Liberty Island — killing a young mom and her 5-month-old daughter — was hit with federal charges of misconduct resulting in death Monday.
Manuel Hernandez, 46, was charged with misconduct or neglect of a ship officer resulting in death and released on $50,000 bond, two days after the horrific mishap claimed the lives of Sara Sanchez of College Point, Queens, and her infant, Antonella Garcia.
Appearing for his Manhattan Federal Court presentment in neoprene water shoes and ankle shackles, Hernandez, wearing a tattered gray T-shirt and gray shorts, had a forlorn expression as he was escorted into the courtroom.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo ordered the motorboat driver not to operate any nautical vessels while his case is pending.
She barred him from having any contact with the passengers who were on the vessel when it capsized or with the operator of the tour the group was on. She also issued travel restrictions limiting his movements to the Southern District of New York and New Jersey.
NYPD divers pulled Sanchez and her baby from the water in critical condition and rushed them to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, but they could not be saved.
Among twelve other people rescued from the waters was Hernandez and Andres Garcia, Sanchez’s partner and the father of little Antonella.
The couple also had a 6-year-old son, Salvador, who was not on the boat, Garcia’s boss at Il Punto Ristorante in Hell’s Kitchen, Antonio Russo, told the Daily News on Sunday. He said the couple had been together for more than 10 years and that the widowed young dad “was in love with her in a very crazy way.”
Russo said the couple had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday, who chartered the boat, and that Sanchez brought her baby girl as she was still breastfeeding.
Hernandez did not immediately have comment leaving the courtroom. Figueredo set his next court date for Sept. 9.