Report: Fernandez pilot in deadly boat accident
MIAMI — Marlins ace Jose Fernandez was piloting his boat when the vessel crashed Sept. 25 off Miami Beach, killing himself and two passengers, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a report released Thursday.
The report concludes that Fernandez was operating the boat while intoxicated and killed himself and his passengers, Emilio Macias and Eduardo Rivero, while piloting the 32-foot SeaVee, Kaught Looking, in a reckless manner.
Toxicology reports released in October concluded Fernandez, 24, had consumed alcohol and cocaine shortly before the crash. Fernandez’s blood-alcohol level was 0.147, well above the 0.08 marker for impaired driving, the Miami-Dade County medical examiner said.
Investigators found Fernandez’s DNA on the steering wheel and the throttle of his boat, which struck a jetty at the southern tip of Miami Beach just after 3 a.m.
The boat was traveling 65.7 mph when it “was stopped almost instantly” after hitting a boulder on the north end of the jetty, according to the report. An investigation found that a marine GPS unit on the boat “clearly displayed the rock jetties and channel markers in the area” but was apparently ignored by Fernandez, the report states.
Fernandez and his friends were at a club, The American Social Bar, for nearly two hours before the crash, the investigation revealed. Fernandez bought two bottles of tequila and three drinks while at the bar, the report said.
A two-time All Star and the 2013 National League Rookie of the year, Fernandez had become the player around whom the Marlins marketed their team. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2014, he was completing his best season in the major leagues, with a record of 16-8 and a 2.86 ERA.