Cop’s bodycam shows rescue of men whose boat capsized

A Miami Beach police officer’s body camera recorded the rescue of three brothers whose boat capsized off the Haulover Inlet over the weekend.

Thomas Fleischhauer, a member of Miami Beach police’s marine unit, answered an emergency call from the boat’s owner, Michael Morales, at 8:35 a.m. Sunday, officials said.

The officer located Morales and his brothers Yasser and Juan Carlos Morales, who had no lifejackets, clinging to the 21-foot vessel about two miles northeast of their last reported location.

“Is everybody accounted for?” Fleischhauer is heard asking the siblings as he approached their capsized green and black boat. The

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SunSentinel.com /rescuevideo bodycam video shows one of the Morales brothers sitting on top with a fishing rod while the two others waded in water.

Police believe the men were stranded for about an hour after the boat flipped, according to Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez. Rough seas may have pushed the boat to its limits, he said.

Footage from Fleischhauer’s body camera show him asking the Morales brothers if they know how to swim. Then the officer began to pull Michael Morales and the others aboard the police boat.

“You’re OK, you’re OK, you’re OK,” Fleischauer told Yasser Morales who fell back while climbing into the rear of the police boat.

Following the ordeal, Michael Morales, told WSVN-Ch. 7 that the Coast Guard also helped the trio.

“We look up, and we see the big Coast Guard aircraft circling us, so right then and there we knew we were going to be all right,’’ Morales told the station.

Yasser Morales added, “I didn’t want to freak out. I had my two younger brothers with me, and we kept talking to each other and just keeping ourselves calm.”

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue examined all three brothers as a precaution.

Fleischhauer has been with Miami Beach police for 10 years.