LITTLE TORCH KEY, Fla. – A report from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigators released Friday suggests impairment may have played a role in an overnight boat crash in the Lower Florida Keys earlier in the week.
The crash happened at around 2 a.m. Monday at the South Pine Channel Bridge, off Little Torch Key.
In the report, FWC investigators said Lawrence L. Lewis, 42, of Big Pine Key, was operating the “fishing charter vessel” when he slammed into the bridge “at an unsafe speed.”
“Alcohol does appear to be a factor,” investigators wrote.
Investigators told Local 10 News on Friday that Lewis was believed to have been drinking throughout the whole trip and officials with the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office said his captain’s license had expired.
Investigators said they found tequila and beer cans and bottles amid the wreckage.
The seven passengers, ranging in age from 11 to 38, were all from northern Florida: Six were from Live Oak and another was from Lake City.
All eight people aboard were hurt in the crash; three had to be airlifted to Miami-area hospitals.
The boat’s outboard motors identified the vessel as belonging to charter company Nauti Tails Fishing Charters, which is based on Big Pine Key.
A woman who answered the phone at the business on Monday confirmed her husband was involved but said she wasn’t sure if the crash happened during a chartered trip or a family trip.
Eighteen-year-old passenger Waylon Poole, of Live Oak, briefly spoke to Local 10 News on Friday.
“We went fishing with a fishing captain and we hit a bridge,” he said. “It came out of nowhere.”
Officials have not yet confirmed whether Lewis will face any criminal charges in connection with the crash.
SAO officials said the officials conducted a blood draw on Lewis once he arrived at the hospital and those toxicology results remained pending as of Friday.