Police searching for hit & run boater....

[mneptune]

Hunt on for hit-and-run boater off Hollywood beach

The Miami Herald

4:32 PM EDT, July 5, 2009

HOLLYWOOD - Law enforcement officials were hunting for the operator of a 26-foot boat called Karma after the vessel struck a father and son diving about 200 yards off Hollywood.

The captain apologized, then sped off to the north, the victims told investigators.

"Clearly he knew that he had struck someone," said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The incident comes two days after the end of the Conservation Commission's Dive Flag Awareness Week. A lifeguard who responded to a call for help found a dive flag in the water, authorities said.

Snorkelers Rudy Perez, 43, and his son Christian, 15, were assisted to shore just before noon today by a lifeguard who reached them aboard a water scooter, officials said.

The pair was treated at Hollywood's Memorial Regional Hospital and released, Pino said. Their hometown was unavailable.

According to Pino, the Conservation Commission and other law enforcement agencies, including the Coast Guard and the Florida Marine Patrol, planned to "canvas the general area" of the incident Sunday and search vessel registry for boats named Karma.

The boat's operator was described as heavy-set with close-cropped, thinning hair.

"It's pretty interesting that the boat is named Karma," said Pino, alluding to the belief in Hinduism and Buddhism that a person's actions and conduct can determine destiny. "I'm pretty sure that the boat operator might be facing his karma very soon."

In the past five years, 22 divers have been killed or injured by boats in Florida waters, according to the conservation commission.

The agency's safety campaign was designed to call attention to regulations that require divers to put out flags, and for boat operators to stay at least 100 feet away.

Pino said there was no indication that Perez and his son were at fault.

[Captain Juan]

Yes. Read this a short time ago. I passed right by that spot heading southbound at 11 a.m. There were lots of people either towing dive flags on tubes or snorkeling from kayaks all up and down Broward beaches not only today but all weekend. I told my wife and daughter how crazy those people were. Some of the folks were quite far from shore. You really have to keep your eyes (the crews' too) open at all time. It's a dangerous mix. That's why on holiday weekends with the family, I leave all the liquor at home. Had a couple jack and cokes a little while ago by the pool. Glad the divers are okay and missed the props. That Karma skipper is a major arsehole. Can't believe they couldn't get a chopper in the air to nail him. He could not have gone that far.

BTW, hasn't happened in a while, especially on holiday weekends when it always seems to rain and get snotty, but the weather was absolutely spectacular Fri., Sat. and today. It was flat and the storm clouds stayed inland.

Juan