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Jul 5, 2009 11:47 pm US/Eastern
Officials Hunt For Boater Who Struck Snorkelers
HOLLYWOOD (CBS4) ―
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The trio of Sunday snorkelers said they can't forgive the skipper behind a boat named Karma who they say injured them, apologized and fled.
CBS
A father and son are recovering after they were hit by a speeding boat while snorkeling off of Hollywood Beach.
The pair -- Rudy Perez, 43, and his 15-year-old son Christian -- was snorkeling with a family friend Edgar Hernandez off Johnson Street around 11:50 a.m. when the lifeguards said they noticed a 25-foot speed boat with the name "Karma" came dangerously close to shore. The driver of the boat ignored the group's red and white flag, which warns there are divers in the water in the immediate area, and slammed into the father and son.
"The boat hit me from my lower back down. It pushed me under the boat," 15-year-old Christian Perez said. "I can't forgive him at all. He should have at least stopped to help."
His father feared the worst.
"The first thing I thought was that's it, my son doesn't have a father," Rudy Perez said.
The boater simply apologized and took off.
"I just saw him wave and say he was sorry, but he made no attempt to stop," said Edgar Hernandez.
Tina Waters, the mother of Christian Perez, said she's grateful her son was not seriously hurt.
"The sad thing about this whole case is that the individual slowed down the vessel, looked back and yelled to the victims, 'I'm sorry!' and then gunned the boat and left the area," said Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Lifeguards on jet skis took the pair to shore. The father was then taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, his son to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital; neither had life threatening injuries. Both were home by Sunday night.
The Coast Guard and the Florida Marine Patrol are actively searching for the "Karma" and its owner.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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