Inset: Daniel Grubert (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area around Johns Pass near Madeira Beach, Fla., where Daniel Grubert allegedly injured two children while riding and racing a jet ski (Google Maps).
A man from New York who was involved in a jet ski race in Florida caused injuries to two children, aged 7 and 8, after abandoning his rented Yamaha WaveRunner, allowing it to collide with another rider carrying the kids, authorities report.
Daniel Grubert, 48, faces charges of two counts of BUI causing serious bodily injury and one count of reckless vessel operation related to the incident on Sunday afternoon, as reported by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
The accident took place around 2:30 p.m. near Johns Pass in Madeira Beach as Grubert, from Piermont, N.Y., was allegedly riding a rented 2024 Yamaha WaveRunner.
According to his arrest affidavit, obtained by Law&Crime on Monday, Grubert claimed he had consumed only one can of Twisted Tea Hard Iced Tea, which has 5% ABV, before the incident took place.
“He admitted to drinking a single Twisted Tea,” the affidavit says.
Grubert allegedly collided with another rented Yamaha WaveRunner piloted by 45-year-old Walter Wodzien, who had the two child victims aboard. Police stated that “all three were ejected from the jet ski.”
“Grubert was racing another jet ski, was not looking ahead of him, and took his eyes off his direction of travel,” the sheriff’s office says in a press release. “Grubert turned around, realized a crash was about to occur, and jumped off the WaveRunner.”
According to the affidavit, Grubert was racing an acquaintance of his on another Yamaha and “watching the friend behind him.” When he looked forward, Grubert allegedly saw Wodzien’s jet ski in front of him.
“[Grubert] jumped off … while at speed, leaving his jet ski to run unmanned as it ran into the victim’s jet ski,” the affidavit says.
The Madeira Beach Fire Department recovered the victims from the water and transported the two kids to a local hospital. One of the children suffered life-threatening injuries and a “near drowning,” while the other suffered non-life-threatening injuries and Wodzien was not injured, per the affidavit.
Investigators with the Pinellas County Marine Unit and the Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) probed the incident and found that Grubert showed “signs of impairment” — including an odor of alcohol on his breath, red eyes and “thick speech,” the affidavit says.
Grubert allegedly “performed poorly” when given a series of field sobriety tests and was arrested at the scene. Online records show that he was still behind bars Monday after being booked at the Pinellas County Jail.
