A Miami chef has filed a suit charging that a major real estate developer there ran her over with his 41-foot center console while she was swimming in Biscayne Bay, causing permanent damage to her left leg and foot.
In a civil suit, Theresa May, the chef, says that Irwin Tauber, the CEO of Taubco, one of Florida’s leading developers of commercial property, ran her down in his 2020 Valhalla, powered by four 450-hp outboards (pictured above), while she was swimming near Bay Harbor Islands last April 28. The suit says a prop “cut all the way to the bone.”
The suit says that Tauber did not render aid after the boat hit her. He stopped, and she yelled, “You ran over me.” The suit then says that he shouted back, “You should have had a dive flag.” Then, it says, he drove away. A paddle boarder pulled her from the water and took her to shore.
May has had surgery and is still recovering from her injuries. Her lawyer says she cannot do her job properly, because “she’s a professional chef and she has to stand on her feet all the time and it hurts.” He says she is seeking damages in the “millions.”
Tauber’s lawyer said he “will respond to and defend against the claims.”
The suit says that Tauber was running fast in a “no wake” manatee zone when he hit May. It says he took a shortcut, cruising under a bridge outside the designated channel. She was swimming in six feet of water, about 100 feet from a sea wall, wearing a bright red swim cap and towing a red swim buoy at the time.
The suit charges Tauber, who lives in a $30 million home on Indian Creek Island, with violating several Florida statutes and the Inland rules of Navigation. Read more:
