The part-owner of Miami Vice, a 95-foot fast charter boat, was charged with misconduct and neglect of a ship officer that resulted in death after the boat ran over a passenger and killed him as he was swimming behind the boat in Biscayne Bay, just off Miami. Federal prosecutors charged Laurent Marc-Antoine Jean Maubert-Cayla, the part-owner of the boat. They had already charged Mauricio Alvarez, 49, the driver of the boat. The two will face trial on Sept. 4.
The government charged that Maubert-Cayla hired Alvarez to drive the boat in November, 2017, even though he knew that Alvarez did not have a Coast Guard license. In March, the Coast Guard charged Alvarez for driving a charter without a license.
On April 1, Raul Menendez, 25, of Hialeah, and six friends paid $3,000 to charter Miami Vice for four hours. Toward the end of that time, Alvarez drove the boat to Monument Island where the friends went swimming. When he was ready to leave, Alvarez started the boat’s twin 2,250-hp MTU diesels and put the boat in reverse. The government charges that he did not look to see if the passengers were safe before he accelerated in reverse. The boat ran over Menendez, who was swimming behind the boat, killing him.
Miami Vice is a 1998 Intermarine 91 that is 95 feet LOA; it tops out at 55 knots. Read more:
