Boat crash throws 4 into SC river, seriously injuring 1, officials say. Boater charged
A South Carolina boat crash tossed four people into a river and left one of them seriously hurt, officials said.
Now, a man is accused of boating under the influence in the Charleston-area case, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Officials in their arrest affidavit didn’t list attorney information for 39-year-old Nicholas Francesco Zuccala Jr.
A group was leaving a concert when their boat was traveling at a “high rate of speed” on a North Charleston river, according to WCSC and details shared with McClatchy News. The group’s boat hit a buoy and at least one other boat on Saturday, Oct. 8.
The impact of the crash sent all four people on the boat overboard, officials said. The crew of a boat that had been hit joined good Samaritans and the North Charleston Fire Department in rescuing the people from the water, officials said.
While three people weren’t injured, the fourth was listed in critical condition, according to a U.S. Coast Guard statement that the Department of Natural Resources provided to McClatchy News.
The crash happened at about 7:30 p.m. on the Cooper River in North Charleston. After the incident, the state agency said officials smelled alcohol on Zuccala, who reportedly “admitted to drinking alcoholic beverages and operating the vessel.”
Zuccala “was operating the boat at the time of the incident and was suspected to be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs at the time of the collision,” state officials wrote in an arrest affidavit.
He was taken to the Charleston County jail and posted a $25,000 bond, online records show.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which didn’t immediately share additional information with McClatchy News on Oct. 10, in its statement said an investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Boat crash throws 4 into SC river, seriously injuring 1, officials say. Boater charged."
