In the early hours of Sunday morning, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) Marine Bureau Officers came to the aid of a family of four stranded at the mouth of Fire Island Inlet in Babylon.
The family resides in the hamlet of Copiague. The party included a father, age 30; his wife, also 30; their 2-year-old son; and his grandfather, age 62, who were out on the Great South Bay on Saturday night when their 25-foot Parker boat ran aground in the inlet during low tide late Saturday evening, and the mother made a 911 distress call on her cellphone at 11:22 p.m.
SCPD Marine Bureau Officers Keith Miller and Robert King, piloting the Marine Juliet, responded but could not get within a half mile of the stranded boat. In turn, a marine hovercraft was dispatched to Oak Beach, where Hovercraft Tango, operated by SCPD Marine Bureau Officers Rob Jenkins and James Matriciano, was deployed and safely reached the stranded vessel, and concluded rescue operations at 1:52 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The family was transported to the New York State Boat Basin, and the child was treated for minor injuries at Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip. No other family members aboard were in need of medical treatment as a result of the incident.
