ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 15-year-old boy is dead after a Sunday afternoon boat crash in St. Petersburg, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in an update.
FWC officials, the Coast Guard and multiple local law enforcement agencies responded to reports of a boating accident around 4:30 p.m. in the area of Bayshore Boulevard and Connecticut Avenue.
Investigators determined that two 15-year-old boys were on board an 18-foot boat when it crashed into a dock, sending them both into the water.
The driver of the boat, Christian Tharakan, was quickly recovered from the water. Neighbors in the Shore Acres community tell 10 Tampa Bay the teen walked away with just scratches.
Along with first responders, those neighbors wasted no time in joining the search efforts for Tharakan's passenger, Collin Moorefield.
One neighbor got into his kayak to find Moorefield, eventually pulling the teen from the water with the help of a St. Petersburg Police officer.
Both teens were transferred to a hospital where Moorefield died from his injuries.
Alexis Carlon was sitting on her back porch with her 2-year-old daughter when she heard a crash. After the boat crashed into the dock, Carlon said it then was headed towards her.
"I knew something was wrong when I saw the boat begin to make its way out into the bay unmanned," she described. "It then veered suddenly, as it was about to make impact and rain into our seawall instead of the dock. My husband jumped our fence and stopped the boat. He was able to pull the throttle down."
Carlon shared her well wishes with the families of both teens, as did many Shore Acres neighbors.
“We would like to express our condolences to the Moorefield family and ask that the public give the family space during this difficult time," Major Evan Laskowski, the FWC's southwest regional commander, said in a statement. “As a father myself, I can only begin to imagine the pain they are experiencing right now. I want them to know we are thinking and praying for them during this time.”
The St. Petersburg Police Department is assisting the FWC in the ongoing investigation.