Driver charged, woman seriously injured in boat crash near Southport

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — A passenger on a boat heading to a fishing tournament was seriously injured in a boat crash early Saturday morning, according to wildlife officials.

The accident happened around 5:15 a.m. as the operator of the boat, Jay Julian Espino of Fayetteville, was entering the Intracoastal Waterway near Indigo Plantation.

T.C. Stacey, a senior officer with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, said Espino, and four passengers planned to participate in the fishing tournament in Southport.

According to Stacey, the boat operator was going from one navigation light to another when he mistakenly ran the boat straight into the seawall.

All five people on the vessel received injuries but one passenger, Anna Amaya, suffered broken bones, a collapsed lung and other injuries. She and her husband were initially taken to Dosher Memorial Hospital in Southport. Due to the severity of her injuries, Amaya was transferred to the trauma center at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

The accident caused $25,000 in damage to the vessel and resulted in a fuel to spill contained by local firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Espino was cited for careless and reckless operation of a boat.

Stacey says Espino did not have any formal training to operate the vessel. Since he was born in 1966, he is not required to have taken a boating safety class.

However, anyone born after January 1, 1988, is required to take a boating safety class to operate a vessel with a motor bigger than a 9.9 horsepower.

Neither alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash, Stacey said.