Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau Officers Rescue Six Stranded in the Great South Bay
Marine Bureau Officers rescued a group of six individuals late last night, after loss of power and gale force winds made it difficult to anchor down. Frank Pezzuto and five of his pizza parlor employees headed toward Sayville from Cherry Grove early Sunday morning, when his 1970 25-foot Chris-Craft boat lost power, just one mile from the Brown’s River entrance. The boat started to drift towards the shore, so Pezzuto attempted to set an anchor down. Gale force winds, gusting to over 40 miles per hour and 3 to 4-foot choppy waves, prevented the anchor from holding.
At approximately 1:15 A.M. Frank Pezzuto called for Police assistance from his cell phone. Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau Officers, John Mullins, Anthony Ruggiero and Brian Flatley located the group, after a successful search, aboard the Marine X-Ray, a 40 foot patrol vessel. The officers attached a tow line to the disabled vessel and delivered the passengers to harbor at Vanderbilt’s Wharf Marina on the Connetquot River in Oakdale.
The passengers were unharmed, despite one case of seasickness. All six individuals refused medical attention.
Smithtown Today would like to remind mariners to always take precautionary measures when a Gale Warning has been released. We recommend Storm Shield; a smartphone app, available on iTunes and Google Play, which reports severe weather and NOAA alerts for your exact location and the locations of up to five family members!