A New York man was taken into custody following a jet ski crash on a Florida beach.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies assigned to the Marine Unit and the Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) are investigating the jet ski crash at Madeira Beach.
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According to investigators, Daniel Patrick Grubert, 48, was driving a rented 2024 Yamaha WaveRunner at Johns Pass. Last month, Grubert was racing another jet ski, not looking ahead of him, and losing sight of his path. According to investigators, Grubert turned around, realized he was about to crash, and got off the WaveRunner. Grubert’s jet ski collided with another leased Yamaha WaveRunner driven by 45-year-old Walter Wodzien.
According to investigators, Walter was carrying two juvenile passengers on his WaveRunner at the time of the crash: a 7-year-old and an 8-year-old. The Madeira Beach Fire Department removed all three from the jet ski and recovered them from the water.
The juveniles were taken to a nearby hospital, one with life-threatening injuries and the other with non-life-threatening injuries. Walter was not wounded.
According to the investigators, Grubert demonstrated indicators of impairment and scored badly on field sobriety tests. He was arrested and charged with two charges of BUI resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of reckless operation of a vessel. He was transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
The inquiry is ongoing, according to local law enforcement.
