What Happened
Stephen Schneider, 64, of Bayville, Ocean County, was released from Ocean County Jail on August 19, 2026, after Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels granted bail at a hearing where prosecutors disclosed his blood alcohol concentration was 0.16, twice the legal limit of 0.08, according to the New York Post. Schneider is charged with two counts of reckless vessel homicide/death by vessel in the July 19 deaths of his grandchildren on Barnegat Bay.
The children, Mya Golabek, 9, and Sigmund Paul Golabek, 7, were killed when Schneider’s 28-foot Tidewater 280 struck a wood channel marker on Barnegat Bay near Berkeley Township, New Jersey. The crash happened after the family had dinner at MJ’s Restaurant in Bayville. The grandchildren had arrived at the restaurant in their parents’ boat; they left for Schneider’s home in his boat, with Schneider at the helm.
The impact threw both children into the water. Both were wearing life vests. They were found face-down. Schneider and his wife performed CPR on scene. Emergency responders transported the siblings to a hospital, where they died.
At Wednesday’s Ocean County court hearing, prosecutor Kate Burke argued Schneider should remain jailed pending trial. “The defendant consumed enough alcohol to reach a BAC of approximately 0.16 and then operated a vessel and the result was catastrophic,” Burke said, per the New York Post. Burke said the BAC reading “demonstrates the degree of impairment the defendant chose to operate the vessel with.”
Schneider told police he drank three beers over two hours at dinner with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and the two grandchildren. His defense attorney, William Cunningham, guaranteed the court that Schneider “will probably never be on a boat again and he will never be ingesting alcohol again.” Cunningham also read a letter from the children’s father, Schneider’s son-in-law, urging the judge to release him. “He’s been there for our family in ways that words cannot fully express. Our family is better because of him,” the letter read. “He’s a wonderful father-in-law, a loving grandfather and a man with a generous heart.”
Cunningham said both the son-in-law and Schneider’s daughter “are the victims and they are begging the court to release him,” adding: “They are still grieving, judge. And they need him out and he’s not a threat to anybody.” Cunningham also said Schneider was still recovering in a hospital from injuries sustained in the crash. The defense plans to investigate whether the wood channel marker the boat struck was lit or unlit that night and intends to retain an independent expert to verify the 0.16 BAC figure.
Judge Daniels granted release over the prosecution’s objection. Schneider, a retired UPS worker with 38 years of service, lives in a three-bedroom, two-bath waterfront home in Bayville valued at approximately $1 million. He is due back in Ocean County Superior Court on September 15.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on Barnegat Bay near Berkeley Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, a heavily trafficked recreational waterway along the Jersey Shore. The family had been at MJ’s Restaurant in Bayville before boarding Schneider’s vessel. The channel marker the Tidewater 280 struck was a wood structure; whether it was lit at the time of the crash is one of the defense’s open investigative questions.
This incident is in New Jersey, outside Long Island Traffic’s primary coverage zone. It is covered here because it involves a waterfront community and boating-DUI charges directly relevant to readers along Long Island’s South Shore bays and channels. For Long Island boating and water-safety incidents, conditions on the Great South Bay and Barnegat Bay share similar channel-marking infrastructure.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Schneider faces two counts of reckless vessel homicide/death by vessel under New Jersey law, plus related charges, according to the New York Post. Prosecutor Burke sought continued detention; Judge Daniels ordered release. The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 15 in Ocean County Superior Court before Judge Wendel Daniels.
The defense has two pending factual challenges: whether the channel marker was properly lit, and whether an independent BAC analysis confirms the prosecution’s 0.16 figure. Schneider told police he consumed three beers, a claim that, if accepted, would conflict sharply with a 0.16 reading. The prosecution has not yet detailed how the BAC was measured or timed relative to the crash.
What This DWI Charge Means
This case is governed by New Jersey boating law, but the BAC thresholds mirror New York’s framework closely enough to be instructive for Long Island boaters. In New York, operating a vessel while impaired by alcohol is prosecuted under the same structure as motor-vehicle DWI through the Vehicle and Traffic Law. VTL § 1192.1 covers driving while ability impaired (DWAI) at any detectable level below 0.08. VTL § 1192.2 applies at a BAC of 0.08 or higher (standard DWI). VTL § 1192.2-a triggers Aggravated DWI at 0.18 or higher, a threshold Schneider’s alleged 0.16 falls just below.
In New York, a first-offense standard DWI carries fines of $500–$1,000, a minimum six-month license revocation, a mandatory DMV hearing, and possible jail time of up to one year. Aggravated DWI fines run $1,000–$2,500 with a minimum one-year revocation and a mandatory ignition interlock device upon relicensing. Refusing a chemical test in New York results in an automatic one-year license revocation and a $500 civil penalty, imposed regardless of whether criminal charges result or are ultimately sustained.
When a DWI or boating-DUI charge involves a fatality, prosecutors in both New York and New Jersey typically pursue the highest applicable homicide-by-vehicle or vessel statute. In New York that is VTL § 1192 combined with Penal Law § 125.12 (vehicular manslaughter, second degree) or § 125.13 (first degree, when a child under 15 is in the vehicle). The New Jersey charges Schneider faces, reckless vessel homicide/death by vessel, carry comparable exposure.
Case Status & Updates
The charges against Stephen Schneider are accusations. He is presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law. Ocean County Superior Court has scheduled the next proceeding for September 15, 2026, before Judge Wendel Daniels. Long Island Traffic tracks DWI and boating-DUI cases through arraignment, plea, and sentencing and will update this report as those records become public.