Boater charged in death of friends on Intracoastal

What began as a late-night boating party along the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale left two people dead and their friend charged with killing them while drunk.

It was 11:35 p.m. on a Saturday in May when Max Irvine steered a 31-foot Angler Marine twin-engine catamaran south toward his destination, Bokamcame Sports Bar & Grill, which is along the waterway near East Oakland Park Boulevard.

Irvine and his passenger Amanda Macke, of Fort Lauderdale, never made it to the bar because the Angler crashed into a 22-foot Twin Vee boat operated by Andre Neves.

A witness told the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission that Irvine was speeding before the crash, according to court documents.

Neves, 37, of Pompano Beach and his passenger Juliani Da Costa Maria, 29, of Boca Raton, both later died. Two other passengers in Neves’ boat were hospitalized with minor injuries.

The Angler was moving at approximately 34 mph in a posted 25-mph manatee nowake zone before the collision. Irvine’s “speed was such that he could not stop or avoid the collision if and when he beper’s aware of it,” the arrest report said. During the May 20, 2017 crash, the catamaran straddled the Twin Vee, a firerescue official said then.

Irvine, 36, of Deerfield Beach, was arrested Wednesday. The arrest report described Irvine’s blood alcohol content as .15 when measured four hours after the crash, falling to .13 when taken about 90

minutes later. Both measurements were higher than the legal level of .08.

Before the crash, Irvine and Macke had stopped at a waterfront bar where security video showed them drinking an alcoholic beverage, investigators said. An empty beer can and empty beer bottle were later found in his boat.

Irvine has two prior DUI convictions, from January 2008 and June 2005, prosecutor Ross Weiner said Thursday during a court hearing. Irvine’s lawyer Daniel Lurvey said that the most recent DUI conviction was more than a decade old, and sought bond for his client.

The Broward State Attorney’s Office has charged Irvine with two counts each of boating under the influence/manslaughter and BUI impairment; two counts of vessel homicide; six counts of BUI with injury and property damage and reckless operation of a vessel/violating navigational rules resulting in injury or death.

Judge Kim Theresa Mollica ordered Irvine held without bond for up to five days or until he appears before his trial judge.