Manuel Hernandez was arrested after a Statue of Liberty boat capsizing near Liberty Island in New York Harbor on Saturday night left a 27-year-old woman and a 5-month-old baby dead. The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday morning that Hernandez, 46, was charged with reckless endangerment.
Police identified Hernandez as the captain. The New York City Police Department said the woman and infant were taken to NYU Langone Health Brooklyn in critical condition and later pronounced dead there.
Liberty Island Rescue Count
Eleven other people on the vessel were rescued and taken to area hospitals with minor injuries. The Coast Guard said the vessel was towed to shore and remains in police custody, keeping the focus on what investigators can still learn from the boat itself.
That inquiry now runs with New York police, who are working with the Coast Guard to determine whether the operation constitutes an illegal charter operation. That question matters because it goes to how the trip was being run, not just what happened when the boat capsized.
Manuel Hernandez Arrest
Hernandez’s arrest on Sunday morning gives investigators a named captain and a charge, but it does not answer why the vessel overturned near Liberty Island. The Coast Guard and New York police are now testing the operation against charter rules while the boat remains in custody.
Liberty Island sits on the New Jersey side of New York Harbor, where visitors often approach the Statue of Liberty by boat. The site has drawn traffic for generations, since the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886 by President Grover Cleveland.
The most urgent next step is the cause of the capsizing. Until investigators account for the trip, the vessel, and the charge against Hernandez, the remaining facts point to a death investigation centered on one boat, one captain, and 13 people aboard.
