Towboat operator arrested for fighting with rival during rescue of 2
By Macollvie Jean-Francois
sun-sentinel.com
Posted April 27 2006, 1:30 PM EDT
POMPANO BEACH -- A towboat operator was arrested Thursday for fighting with a competitor after rushing to a sinking boat off Hillsboro Inlet, officials said.
Broward Sheriff's Office deputies trying to rescue several people they saw screaming for help in an inflatable raft about 11 a.m. saw two salvage vessels, one from Sea Tow and the other from Tow Boat/US, approaching the sinking Fortuna, a 46-foot cabin cruiser from Sands Point, N.Y., that started taking on water about two miles off Pompano Beach, BSO spokesman Neil Birenbaum said.
"The two guys showed up at the same time and engaged in a fistfight over who would get to tow the boat," Birenbaum said.
The Tow Boat/US operator, who was not immediately identified, was arrested, Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Doss said. He, along with two people that BSO rescued, were being taken to the Fort Lauderdale station at John U. Lloyd State Park in Dania Beach, where they were to be interviewed.
"I know they are competitors in the vessel salvage business, but I've never heard of this happening before," Doss said.
By Macollvie Jean-Francois
sun-sentinel.com
Posted April 27 2006, 1:30 PM EDT
POMPANO BEACH -- A towboat operator was arrested Thursday for fighting with a competitor after rushing to a sinking boat off Hillsboro Inlet, officials said.
Broward Sheriff's Office deputies trying to rescue several people they saw screaming for help in an inflatable raft about 11 a.m. saw two salvage vessels, one from Sea Tow and the other from Tow Boat/US, approaching the sinking Fortuna, a 46-foot cabin cruiser from Sands Point, N.Y., that started taking on water about two miles off Pompano Beach, BSO spokesman Neil Birenbaum said.
"The two guys showed up at the same time and engaged in a fistfight over who would get to tow the boat," Birenbaum said.
The Tow Boat/US operator, who was not immediately identified, was arrested, Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Doss said. He, along with two people that BSO rescued, were being taken to the Fort Lauderdale station at John U. Lloyd State Park in Dania Beach, where they were to be interviewed.
"I know they are competitors in the vessel salvage business, but I've never heard of this happening before," Doss said.