A new lawsuit alleges South Florida commercial broker George Pino was drinking alcohol and provided it to the teenagers aboard the boat he was driving that crashed last Labor Day weekend
The boat crash, which occurred near the Florida Keys on Sept. 4, killed 17-year-old Luciana Fernandez, permanently disabled Katerina Sofia Puig, also 17, and injured others. Puig’s parents, Kathya and Rodolfo Fernando Puig, filed the lawsuit against Pino and his wife, Cecilia Pino, last week in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, as first reported by the Miami Herald. The parents are also suing Ocean Reef Volunteer Fire Department and Monroe County’s Trauma Star helicopter ambulance.
Pino, president of Doral-based State Street Realty, refused a blood draw and/or breathalyzer test after the accident, according to the lawsuit. The Puigs allege that Pino and his wife, who is director of public relations at State Street Realty, served the teenagers alcohol, and that the drinks “caused and/or contributed to cause” their daughter’s injuries. Twelve minors were on board the boat with the Pinos.
George Pino allegedly drank to “the extent that his normal faculties were impaired” that day, the lawsuit states. An initial report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated that alcohol was likely not a factor in the crash, the Herald reported.
The Pinos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pinos’ lawyers filed a “limitation of liability” in federal court the same week the Puigs filed their lawsuit, according to the Herald.
The Pinos’ attorneys are looking to limit how much money could be awarded in lawsuits just to the value of George Pino’s 29-foot Robalo boat after the crash. Pino’s damaged boat was valued at just $5,600, a surveyor for Pino’s insurance company found. One attorney told the newspaper that insurance companies typically push for that following boat crashes in which people were injured or killed.
— Katherine Kallergis