Drunken boater crashes on Hudson River: cops

VERPLANCK – A Croton-on-Hudson man injured Sunday when his boat crashed into a wooden sea wall on the Hudson River after narrowly missing several boats has been charged with drunken boating, Westchester County police said.

Rogerio Jost, 56, of Truesdale Drive was going fast in the 18-foot Stingray before it struck the wall near the Viking Marina in Verplanck at 5:40 p.m., police said Monday.

The crash crumpled the bow and trapped Jost under the helm.

Marine Unit Officers Joseph Kraus and Isai Moreira administered first aid, and Emergency Service Unit officers helped saw through metal to free Jost. The boater was placed on a back board and taken to shore by county police then transported to the Westchester Medical Center and admitted.

Jost was charged with boating while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and issued a desk appearance ticket. He was also issued Navigation Law summonses for reckless operation and operating a vessel above 5 mph within 100 feet of the shoreline. He is due in Cortlandt Town Court on June 9.

Cortlandt Regional Paramedics and Verplanck Fire Department ambulance personnel also assisted.

County Public Safety Commissioner George N. Longworth noted that the Marine Unit was conducting a drunken boating enforcement detail on the Hudson Monday with the U.S. Coast Guard. He also said the county police had made seven arrests so far this Memorial Day weekend on county parkways charging motorists with driving while intoxicated.

"The Westchester County Police are committed to doing all we can to keep our waterways and roadways safe," he said.