A jet ski operator was arrested after allegedly crashing into a friend’s watercraft near Randalls Island over the weekend, causing a fatal collision that killed a 26-year-old woman who was thrown into the water and later found floating facedown, authorities said.
Yeisson Reyes-Rodriguez, 27, was taken into custody Sunday and charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree vehicular manslaughter in connection with the crash, which occurred in the Harlem River around 10 p.m. Saturday, according to a criminal complaint.
Reyes-Rodriguez, who is from Passaic, New Jersey, had been drinking and playing music with four others, including the victim, on Randall’s Island before the group left after dark, the complaint said.
The group then got on their jet skis to head back toward Fort Lee via the Harlem River.
Prosecutors said Reyes-Rodriguez was driving one jet ski with a 28-year-old woman riding as his passenger, while a 26-year-old man operated a second jet ski carrying the 26-year-old woman who died. A fifth person was riding separately on another jet ski.
As the 26-year-old man attempted to make a U-turn — first heading west and then south — Reyes-Rodriguez allegedly slammed his jet ski into the other watercraft.
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The force of the impact threw all four people on the two jet skis into the river.
Police said the 26-year-old woman, who had been seated on the back of the jet ski, was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive.
She was later taken to Harlem Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Reyes-Rodrigeuz had a blood alcohol level of 0.141% when cops gave him a breathalyzer test around 11:40 p.m. It is illegal to operate a jet ski or any other vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or more, according to the complaint.
He claimed to cops that he had only chugged three drinks on Randall’s Island before they headed back to the Garden State.
The alleged drunken jet-skier also told investigators it was too dark for him to see clearly before the fatal crash.
Reyes-Rodriguez was arraigned and ordered held on a $25,000 bond.
