The captain of an allegedly unlicensed boat that capsized in New York Harbor near Liberty Island over the weekend, killing a young woman and her baby, has been charged in their deaths.
Manuel Hernandez, 46, was charged Monday with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Hernandez, of Manville, New Jersey, appeared in court Monday, where he was not required to enter a plea and was released on $50,000 bail, NBC New York reported. He left with his court-appointed attorney, Amy Gallicchio, and both declined to comment, the station reported.
Gallicchio did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Queens resident Sara Sanchez, 27, and her 5-month-old daughter, Antonella Garcia, died in the tragedy Saturday evening.
Hernandez was piloting a Yamaha AR210 jet vessel Saturday night — but he had not registered it, did not have the certification to operate it in the harbor with paying customers and did not have infant-sized flotation devices on board, according to the complaint.
Furthermore, he had 14 people on board, including himself — exceeding the vessel’s maximum capacity of 10 people, the complaint alleges.
The accident
Hernandez operated the vessel while he was working for a tour operations company, which branded itself as a luxury limousine and rental yacht provider.
Saturday’s tour was for 13 passengers for a trip around the harbor near the Statue of Liberty, arranged through the tour operator for $1,800, the complaint said.
Hernandez is alleged to have told law enforcement officers in a post-arrest interview that he had periodically worked for the operator since 2025 and had piloted two similar tours on his personal boat, a Yamaha AR250 — which is similar to but larger than the vessel used in Saturday’s accident.
The night of Saturday’s tour, he used a friend’s boat, as his personal one needed mechanical repairs, but he did not inform the owner he was using it for a tour with paying customers, prosecutors allege in the complaint.
Hernandez told authorities he was unaware of the maximum capacity for the boat he was driving Saturday but knew his personal boat could take no more than 12 passengers, the complaint says. He said he initially believed Saturday’s tour would consist of 12 passengers but ultimately agreed to take 13, according to prosecutors.
The day of the trip, Sanchez was with her 5-month-old baby and the child’s father, whom co-workers identified as Andres Garcia.
Before boarding, Hernandez asked the parents whether they had an infant-sized personal flotation device for the baby, and they said they did not, according to the complaint. He told them the boat was not equipped with a child- or infant-sized personal flotation device and instead said one of them would need to wear a flotation device and hold the baby throughout the tour, which Sanchez did, the complaint alleges.
At 10:20 p.m., three hours and 20 minutes into the tour, Hernandez made a U-turn, which brought the vessel into a swell, which was “possibly caused by the wake of a larger passing vessel,” the complaint says.
“However, the swell swamped the bow of the vessel and immediately capsized the vessel,” according to the filing.
The 13 passengers and Hernandez were all thrown overboard.
Shortly after the capsizing, other boats, including commercial vessels and others operated by the New York Police Department, the Coast Guard and the New York City Fire Department, responded, and 11 passengers and Hernandez were pulled from the water in varying conditions.
The bodies of Sanchez and her baby were recovered in the water by police and members of the Coast Guard. Both were unresponsive. They received CPR and were taken to a hospital in Brooklyn, where they were pronounced dead upon arrival.
Hernandez didn’t have required credentials for the boat, prosecutors allege
The complaint said Hernandez never obtained a merchant mariner credential (MMC) or a valid Coast Guard certificate of inspection, both of which are required to operate a vessel with paying customers on board.
The boat was a type and size that made it ineligible to receive a certificate of inspection for “the type of operation conducted by Hernandez,” the complaint says.
Hernandez admitted to law enforcement that he never sought the certificate of inspection or the MMC, both of which are required under federal regulations, because he was unaware that they were required, the filing says.
The certificate of inspection involves a stability test to determine the total number of passengers allowed on board during for-hire operations. The MMC requires operators to show a minimum of 360 days of documented boating experience, and operators must pass a physical examination, a drug test and a background check, as well as first aid, CPR and boating courses, according to the filing.
Because the boat involved in the accident carried more than six passengers, the bar was even higher, the complaint says: An operator must hold an even higher level of certification than the baseline MMC, including a separate exam on navigation, vessel operation and other safety measures.
It is also mandated that children under 13 must wear appropriate personal flotation devices, the filing says.
A community in mourning
The grieving community is rallying around Sanchez’s partner.
On Monday, the general managers of two businesses he worked at held a news conference to support him. He worked at Il Punto Restaurant, which has locations in Manhattan and Flushing, Queens, and at the Marco Hotel, holding various positions over the past six years.
The general managers described Garcia as Sanchez’s husband and as a hardworking, dedicated family man who supported not only his family in New York but also back in his home country, Colombia.
They started an online fundraiser to support Garcia and their surviving 6-year-old child.
Antonio Russo, the general manager of Il Punto, said that he had asked Garcia to work Saturday night at the Manhattan restaurant but that Garcia surprisingly said no.
“He said: ‘Antonio, would you please mind? I have something planned,’ and I was so happy for him, because he never had anything planned,” Russo said. “And he posted a story on his WhatsApp showing the view from the boat, and we all saw it. We were all surprised that he could actually enjoy a minute of his life, because this guy has been providing for his family here but also for his family in Colombia.”
Russo said he had a conversation with Garcia just one day before the tragedy in which Garcia expressed how happy he felt with his family.
“He told me how blessed he felt to have such a wife … that he was very grateful to have her and that he felt so lucky and blessed,” Russo recalled. “That was the first time we spoke about this so deeply, and then that happened the day after. Can you imagine?”
