Privacy update — September 18, 2026: Identifying details have been removed under our victim privacy policy.
What Happened
A 30-year-old off-duty Suffolk County police officer and his 64-year-old father were ejected from their boat and thrown into the water Wednesday evening after their vessel was struck by a wake, according to Newsday. The incident occurred at approximately 6:20 p.m. on July 2, 2026, in waters within Suffolk County. After both men were thrown overboard, the officer’s own boat circled back and ran him over, with the propeller striking his legs and severing an artery — a terrifying sequence that left him fighting for his life in the water.
The two men had been aboard a 17-foot Boston Whaler when the boat was struck by a wake, the Suffolk County Police Department press office confirmed by email. The force of the wake was sufficient to eject both occupants into the surrounding water. The younger man, an off-duty Suffolk County police officer and a resident of Massapequa, was then struck by the runaway boat’s spinning propeller. The cause of the wake — including whether it was generated by a passing vessel — is currently under investigation, police said.
The officer’s injuries were severe and potentially fatal without immediate intervention. “His own boat ran him over severing an artery in his leg,” Brian Nevin, a spokesman for the Town of Oyster Bay, wrote in a text message to Newsday. “Bay Constables applied 2 tourniquets to his leg and packed the wound. Definitely saving his life,” Nevin added. The rapid, skilled response by Bay Constables — who applied two tourniquets and packed the wound to control bleeding — is credited with preventing what could have been a fatal outcome. The propeller had struck the younger man’s legs, and he was transported to a hospital where his injuries were ultimately described as non-life-threatening, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.
Multiple boaters in the area also played a key role in the rescue. The Suffolk County Police Department confirmed in its email statement that “multiple boaters assisted” in pulling the men to safety after they were ejected. The father, age 64, was also rescued from the water. Neither man’s name was publicly disclosed by authorities.
The elder man’s condition was not separately detailed by officials, but both individuals were brought to a hospital following the incident. Authorities have not specified the names of the hospital or hospitals that received the injured men. The investigation into what caused the wake that triggered the ejection — including whether another vessel was responsible — remains active and ongoing, according to Newsday.
Location & Road Context
The accident took place in waterways within Suffolk County, with the Town of Oyster Bay’s involvement as a responding authority suggesting the incident occurred in the Oyster Bay area. The Massapequa residency of the off-duty officer also places the men in a region of Nassau-Suffolk border waterways frequently used for recreational boating, particularly around the Fourth of July holiday weekend — one of the busiest periods of the year for boat traffic on Long Island’s South Shore bays and harbors.
Suffolk County’s waters see consistent recreational activity throughout the summer months, and our local incident database contains 540 recorded accidents in Suffolk County across all modes of travel. Recent days have seen a surge in traffic incidents across the county, including a crash on the Sagtikos State Parkway and a crash on NY 27 within the past 24 hours, underscoring the elevated risk environment around the holiday period. Boating incidents, while not tracked in the same road-based database, reflect a similar pattern of increased recreational risk around July 4th.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The Suffolk County Police Department has confirmed that an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the wake that struck the Boston Whaler and set off the chain of events leading to the ejection and injuries. As of the time of the Newsday report, it had not been established whether another vessel generated the wake, and no charges have been announced in connection with the incident. Authorities have not disclosed whether any other boaters in the vicinity were being sought for questioning or whether surveillance footage from nearby docks or vessels was being reviewed as part of the probe.