I was dispatched to a boating accident in Dumfoundling Bay at approximately 11:15 pm. Once on scene, I was told by USCG that all of the occupants had been taken to Duffy's Sports Bar and Grill, just south of our location in the ICW. Once I arrived at Duffy's, I asked to speak to the registered owner of the vessel. I spoke to Operator and he stated he was operating the vessel when they made impact with the channel marker. Operator stated they were heading southbound in the ICW coming back from Hallandale. I then conducted Seated Standardized Field Sobriety Tasks(SFST's). I determined that Operator was above the legal limit of .08% or higher. Operator was taken into custody. 

On November 16th 2012, Officers and I were dispatched to a boating accident with injuries at approximately 2315hrs. Officer and I arrived on scene in Dumfoundling Bay near channel marker 49 while Officer arrived on scene at Duffy's Sports Bar and Grill to conduct interviews of the victims who had been staged there for ambulance transport. Duffy's is located just south of Dumfoundling Bay in the ICW. Officer and I arrived on scene and observed the vessel facing east just outside of the ICW channel in Dumfoundling Bay. The bow of the vessel had impact damage that was indicative of having struck a channel marker. 

After speaking to the owner/operator of the vessel, Operator, we determined that the vessel was heading south bound in the ICW and when the vessel entered Dumfoundling Bay the visibility had significantly decreased. Operator stated that they struck a day marker shortly after entering Dumfoundling Bay. Operator stated that they immediately did a "head count" for everyone on board and determined no one had been ejected. Operator stated after everyone was accounted for, the occupants began to treat the ones who were injured and also called the police. After determining Operator was the operator and observing the smell of alcohol on Operator while speaking to him, I conducted Seated Battery of Standardized Field Sobriety Tasks (SFST's). Operator failed the tasks and was placed under arrest for Boating Under the Influence (BUI) and was also cited for violation of navigation rule 5 (no proper lookout).  

The following day, Officer and I went back to Dumfoundling Bay to locate the marker that had been struck. We located a temporary buoy that had replaced the existing marker struck by Operator's vessel. We then called Coast Guard Sector Miami to verify if the temporary buoy was intended to replace  the damaged marker. We spoke with Petty Officer who was also on scene the night before. He confirmed that the temporary buoy was to replace the damaged marker. The marker, according to Petty Officer had been struck so hard that it sank to the bay bottom. 

After reviewing a 2011 nautical chart of Dumfoundling Bay I discovered that channel marker "49" was a lighted marker. The channel marker information is as follows: FL G 4s 16ft 4M '49' G. I spoke with Petty Officer from USCG on December 5th 2012 at 17:30 and he confirmed that marker "49" was in fact a lighted marker. He also stated that the marker was not yet recovered from the bay. I asked Petty Officer if there was a notice to mariners (NTM) alert for that day concerning the markers functionality. Petty Officer stated he had reviewed the NTMs and no notices regarding marker "49" were included. Petty Officer concluded that the marker should have been in normal working order. I also checked the NTMs for that day and was also unable to find any mention of marker "49" in Dumfoundling Bay. 
; victim3The victim suffered a bruised collar bone, chipped front teeth, and a bruise on her shin. The victim stated she received a CAT scan and X-Rays to determine if her collar bone was broken. Aventura Hospital conducted the initial X-Ray on her shoulde

MIAMI                         