1 dead, several hurt after hit-and-run boat crash into Clearwater Ferry

CLEARWATER — One person died and several passengers were injured Sunday night after an aquatic hit-and-run crash slammed the Clearwater Ferry, a public water taxi touted for its convenience and safety, into a sandbar near the Memorial Causeway bridge. Clearwater officials announced three hours after the collision that the driver who they said fled the scene had been found by a partnering law enforcement agency. Clearwater spokesperson Rob Shaw didn’t disclose the driver’s identity, if impairment was suspected or what type of boat hit the ferry. But a large police scene later developed around a center console boat just a few miles from the scene.By midnight, Clearwater officials confirmed that one person died of injuries from the ferry crash. Six patients were declared “trauma alerts,” with two of those flown by helicopter, according to the Clearwater Police Department. Morton Plant Hospital, which is less than a mile from the crash, received four patients with minor injuries, said BayCare spokesperson Lisa Razler, adding that at least one other patient was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa. Two female patients were transported to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg. The hospital is the only Level II trauma center in Pinellas County, a designation that requires it to have trauma surgeons on hand and more on call for mass casualty events.Sunday had otherwise been a nautical dream. Calm waters. Pleasant temperatures. Boaters galore. But by 9 p.m., it had become bedlam just south of the Memorial Causeway bridge.At the time of the collision, which was first reported at 8:43 p.m., the Clearwater Ferry had been carrying 45 people, including two crew members. The other boat left the scene, but an unnamed law enforcement agency managed to identify it, according to Clearwater officials.Because of the number of injuries, Clearwater’s fire department declared the crash a “mass casualty event.” That meant all local hospitals were alerted to expect patients.Two hours later, first responders were splashing through shallow water below the Memorial Causeway bridge.Mired in a sandbar by 11 p.m. was the small ferry, its top in tatters with only one small, red light aboard piercing the darkness. The damage was hardly visible, illuminated only by streetlights from the bridge and the small flashlights of first responders circling it repeatedly. Rows of thin seats appeared to have been thrown together in a jumble, pushed back from the front of the boat.Flashlight beams bounced along the surface as the emergency responders waded out toward the crash scene.Atop the bridge, bystanders stopped and stared from the railing. Red and blue lights flickered further down the road toward Clearwater Beach.It was a sudden and violent setback for the ferry.Founded in 2015, the Clearwater Ferry was initially a privately owned water taxi to shuttle between downtown Clearwater and Clearwater Beach. It set out to provide relief for congestion-weary motorists. Instead of traveling on the Memorial Causeway, passengers of the ferry would sail below it.It was such a hit that by 2023, the state granted the company running it $1 million to buy two other boats to ramp up service. As of Sunday, the ferry’s website said that the service was composed of three vessels. Maddies’s Crossing, once called the Sunshine Express, can hold 42 passengers. Hailey’s Crossing can hold 21. Monica’s Crossing can hold up to 63.The ferry routes had served Clearwater and Dunedin with stops at downtown Clearwater, Clearwater Beach Marina and Dunedin Marina, which is near breweries, shops and restaurants. But last year’s hurricanes interrupted service to Dunedin because the docks had been severely damaged. The Pinellas transit agency took over the Clearwater Ferry earlier this year, expanding its frequency because of growing demand. During a Jan. 31 launch event at Clearwater Harbor Marina, Brad Miller, the CEO of Pinellas County’s transit agency, said the ferry was part of an effort to provide more transit options for residents. Fares range from $2.50 to $5.It’s unclear where the ferry was traveling to or from at the time of the crash. Hours later, and less than four miles from the site, a heavy police presence surrounded a boat as officers hoisted it from the water at the Belleair Causeway ramp early Monday. Officers on scene did not say whether their investigation was related to the crash.About 12:30 a.m., two investigators walked around the boat’s deck. It was tied up at a dock that stretches into the water at the boat ramp, next to a bait and tackle store under the causeway. Its hull was blue and white, with the gleam of an anchor sticking forward from the bow, which had scrapes on its right side.One officer whose uniform was labeled “Sheriff Forensics” snapped photos from outside and on the boat. Law enforcement officers spoke to a man sitting on a seat at the front of the boat, until he walked off the dock. One of the officers ordered reporters to stand back so they wouldn’t “intimidate the driver of the boat” but did not say more. They led the man to a truck without police markings. The boat’s three outboard motors were raised as it sat tied up at the ramp. At least one officer at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is conducting the crash investigation, was also at the scene. Nearby, a family watched the commotion, standing by the water’s edge. As wildlife officers hitched the boat to a trailer, the smell of gasoline filled the air. A thin, white scrape at the bow became more visible out of the water. An investigator took pictures of the bottom of the boat near the bow after it was pulled onto land. The side of the boat bore a logo: “Statement.”