Cops: Alcohol was on boat that severed diver’s arm

The 36-foot boat that severed the arm of Carter Viss on Thanksgiving morning had multiple open cans of alcohol in plain view, according to a police report from the Palm Beach Police Department.

After the accident, the boat was towed to a nearby park. An officer boarded the boat and found open cans of Truly Hard Seltzer, the report said. The drink contains 5% alcohol according to the company website.

The officer also found a blue mug in a cup holder near the boat’s steering wheel that contained an “unknown clear liquid,” the report said. The cup’s top was labeled “Danny Boy.”

Daniel W. Stanton, 30, was operating the boat at the time of the incident Thursday. The police report says Stanton was on board the boat with four others, including his father.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the incident. An FWC spokeswoman said there have yet to be any arrests or charges filed.

Stanton told officers that he was looking left and right while driving the boat but but did not see any dive flags or any divers.

Stanton did not respond to a phone call Tuesday.

The report provides more details about what occurred Nov. 29.

Christine Raininger, 28, was out snorkeling with a dive flag in the area of the accident, according to the police report. She told officers she saw the boat driven by Stanton traveling south at a fast speed despite three visible dive flags in the area — at least one of the flags belonged to Viss, according to the report.

Raininger told police she yelled at the boat as it passed and heard Viss yell after the boat struck him. According to the report, Raininger got on her paddle board and assisted Viss’ friend, Andy Earl, who was diving 25 feet away from Viss. The two of them applied pressure to Viss’ wounds.

Neither Raininger nor Earl, 35, responded to phone calls or emails on Tuesday.

The police report said 75% of Carter’s arm was severed. The arm was later recovered along with Viss’ dive flag and weight belt by

Thiago Barosa, 32, who was snorkeling in the area.

In addition to severing his arm, the report said Viss suffered deep lacerations under his right knee cap and on his left shin. He also sustained multiple fractures.

On Tuesday, Viss’ mother, Leila Viss, who has been blogging about his recovery at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, wrote that the breathing tube Viss had been using was finally removed Monday afternoon.

In the post, Viss’ mother also provided more details about Viss’ employment at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, where he has worked for the past two years.

According to Viss’ mother, he participated in cleanup dives, maintaining the Juno Beach pier and lifting 200-pound sea turtles into rehabilitation tanks when they are brought to the center for treatment. Viss’ mother said that many sea turtles arrive at the center because they have been struck by a boat.

“What Carter has been doing over the past two years for sea turtles at LMC has a remarkable resemblance to what his personal journey looks like now,” she wrote.

According to Viss’ mother, after his breathing tube was removed he could finally speak to his family for the first time.

One of the first things he said — unprompted — was, “I swam as fast as I could.”