Skipper of NYC boat that burst into flames charged with drunken driving, released: ‘I had one beer'
The captain of a 35-foot boat that burst into flames off the Bronx shoreline over the weekend was charged with drunk driving and released — after giving cops a lame excuse for the boozy blaze that injured nearly two dozen passengers, prosecutors said.
'I had one beer,' Joshua Brito, 33, allegedly told cops before being hit with drunken driving charges after the fiery Saturday night mishap, according to a complaint filed in Bronx Criminal Court.
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3 Joshua Brito was charged with operating a vessel while under the influence after a Saturday night Bronx boat fire.
Peter Gerber
3 The Saturday night boat blaze near Hart Island left nearly two dozen passengers injured and the captain in cuffs.
FDNY
Cops arriving at the scene shortly before 8 p.m. on Saturday found Brito 'to have watery eyes and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath,' according to the criminal complaint.
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He allegedly admitted to cops that he had an issue with the boat just days earlier.
'I picked up the group at World Fair,' he told police, the complaint said. 'I had an issue with the boat two days ago. I disconnected the generator.'
Brito pleaded not guilty to three counts of operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs following his arrest after the Carver 35 yacht exploded in Bronx waters near Hart Island.
3 The 35-foot Carver 35 yacht was torched by the Saturday night fire off the Bronx shoreline that injured 23 people.
TOMAS E. GASTON
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Several boats were tied up near the doomed yacht when it burst into flames, leaving 23 people injured — including a 46-year-old man who was in the ICU on Sunday, a relative told The Post.
Police said Monday his condition remains unchanged.
The passengers swam to Hart Island and were later transported to City Island by the US Coast Guard.
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The blaze is under investigation. It is unclear if disconnecting the generator could have caused the fire.
Police said Brito's blood alcohol level measured .05 when a test was administered at Jacobi Hospital Medical Center following the incident — above the .04 threshold for operating the boat under the influence.
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