Jefry Knight was quoted in 2019, in which the same boat was involved in the ferry crash

Pinellas County, Florida – the same captain and the same boat that collapsed on Sunday evening in the Clearwater ferry, killed a man and injured several people, was quoted with several injuries years ago in a different Pinellas County boat accident.

The ABC Action News I team received pictures and reports from this crash from 2019, which was somewhat similar to the youngest.

“This big yacht came through the boat”

City of Clearwater

It was a chaotic scene on Sunday evening after a power boat operated by Jefry Knight had hit the Clearwater ferry with 44 people.

Shaked passengers remember the terrible moment.

“I looked back behind us and this big yacht just came through the boat,” recalled a passenger.

A Clearwater City camera caught the incident.

Knights boat can be seen how he comes from behind and collides with the ferry.

“We can't even understand how quickly they went. How was it even logically possible,” said Ferry Passenger Brenda Alvarez, who is 31 weeks pregnant.

Rescue workers searched to help the crash victims.

WFTS

“We had six trauma warnings. We had flown two people with the helicopter to local hospitals,” said Rob Shaw, public information officer of Clearwater Police.

Jose Castro, a 41-year-old father of two children, died of the crash.

Knight was not charged with this accident

The same boat, the same captain, different crash

FWC photo

But the I-Team has confirmed that Knight was quoted for another accident with the same boat that fell against another pontoon boatPresent cause serious injuries.

“It is a ship against Ponton near Skyway, with an injured topic being brought to Maximo,” said the Dispatcher of the Wildlife Commission in Florida, shortly after 2 p.m. on Monday, September 2, 2019.

It was the day of work, and Jefry Knight was behind the wheel of his 37 -foot motor boat.

The boat was driven by three 350 hp engines with more than 1,000 hp.

US district court document

Near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Knights Boot met a 21-foot ponton boat with a single 90 hp exterior board engine, the Freedom Boat Club.

“There will be two other subjects who are injured. EMS is currently 10-51. Dispatch is of the opinion that they are transported to Bayfront,” the dispatcher alerted the officers in a different radio transmission.

According to the FWC incident report received by the I-Team, Knights Boot drove at an estimated speed of 45 miles per hour when it hit the pontoon boat, which says that witnesses take 8 miles per hour.

FWC photo

The report says that the pontoon boat operator was a doctor who carried out first aid for the injured passengers.

A passenger from Knights Boot reported reportedly into this ship and drove to Maximo Park, where the ambulances were waiting to bring the three victims to the Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg.

“The number one patient is a female victim, trauma alert. Has head injuries and cuts,” said a FWC officer on site to the dispatcher. “Patient number two is another female trauma alarm with abdominal injuries.”

According to the report, the third passenger had a leg injury.

Knight said he looked down on GPS

Records show that Knight bought its 2018 boat for more than 381,000 US dollars.

It had far less damage than the pontoon boat that hit it.

Knight entered FWC investigators a handwritten explanation: “I have down to check my GPS when the other boat pushed on my bow.”

US district court

FWC accused him 28 days after the accident with careless surgery of a ship and a collision with a ship.

We asked the retired naval officer Randy Lopez in the retired Tampa to check the report.

He has and operates Blue Line Boating, a charter boat and boots security training business.

During the 33-year career as criminal prosecution, he examined hundreds of boat accidents.

The FWC report from the 2019 crash came to the conclusion “Knight was to blame for this accident”.

“The bigger boat should give in. He should have slowed down and go behind him,” said Lopez, looking at the diagram that the investigators provided in the context of the report.

Lopez said the report stated that Knight violated navigation rules and had no viewpoint.

“Take a look at the inequality in size and the composition of the ships,” said Lopez. “Pontons sit deeper in the water. This is the design. They are slower moving boats. The boat that runs 45 miles per hour will run directly over it.”

Lopez checked the FWC photos, which significantly damage the pontoon boat, including a crushed railing on the side of the impact.

“They look at the damage to the pontoon, they go, I am surprised that nobody was killed. If this boat appeared, someone had been sitting there or standing there that they had taken this boat with her power,” said Lopez.

FWC plants fell that civil proceedings were settled

The indictment against Knight 2019 was released by a judge months later.

The injured passengers sued Knight and a limited liability company formed by Knight, which held the title to the boat.

Court files

In the lawsuit it is claimed that Knight has violated navigation rules, “by not looking properly, is inattentive and the ship has an inattentive way, also by distracting his direction of travel by looking down on his GPS immediately before the ship.”

The civil procedure was enclosed for an unknown amount.

US district court

According to Lopez, the events in 2019 and on Sundays show how important it is to consciously consciously your own environment and to operate boats safely at any time.

“The boats that we have outside today are fast, they are big, they are difficult, they run. They will run through things and they will cause damage,” said Lopez.

We contacted Knight's lawyer Kevin Hayslett, who said he did not want to comment on the 2019 charges, except emphasizing that the indictment against Knight was released.

If you have a story the I-Team should investigate, send us an email to adam@abcactionnews.com.