The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Long Island Sound death in Stratford under investigation
STRATFORD — The capsizing of a boat in Long Island Sound on Sunday that left one man dead and three others in the hospital is under investigation after officials determined which law enforcement agency had jurisdiction Monday.
The investigation is being conducted by Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police, said Bridgeport police spokesman Terron Jones late Monday, citing a message by Bridgeport police Capt. Kevin Gilleran.
The man who died has not been identified.
The capsizing was reported about 10:30 a.m. Sunday in the area of Middle Ground, Long Island Sound, Stratford Shoal Buoy No. 2, Terron Jones said.
Four people had been on the 17foot pleasure boat.
The Coast Guard found three male victims and took them to the Water Street dock in Bridgeport, where paramedics began treatment and took them to Bridgeport Hospital.
The fourth male victim was eventually located in the water southwest of the Middle Ground lighthouse. Police and Coast Guard personnel pulled the man onto a Bridgeport Police boat.
The Bridgeport Fire boat, which had also responded to the area, was contacted over the marine frequency. Two Bridgeport firefighters went on board the Bridgeport Police boat and began treating the victim.
The police boat took the man to the Water Street Dock, where he was taken off the police boat and into a waiting ambulance. He was transported to Bridgeport Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Jones said Sunday that the identity of the man who died was pending notification of his family.
A Fairfield police officer on boat patrol Sunday located the man and helped get him onto the Bridgeport police boat, he said in an email.
“I cannot advise whose investigation this is as we only located the male and turned him over to Bridgeport P.D. for medical care,” he said.
Though the capsizing occurred in Stratford waters, a police spokesman there, Capt. Frank Eannotti, said officers responding to the scene with the Stratford police boat were called off by the Coast Guard before they got underway.
Three victims were taken to Bridgeport Hospital. The fourth was found in the water southwest of the Middle Ground lighthouse.