MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - Demonstrators on Friday rallied outside the Nassau County police headquarters to demand an arrest in connection with a boat crash that killed a 25-year-old man earlier this month.
Assemblyman Phil Ramos, a Democrat from Brentwood, spoke at the rally and said the driver of one of the two boats involved in the Aug. 1 crash was operating recklessly, caused the wreck and has been favorably treated by police, Newsday reported.
The boat operator has not been identified by police because he is not charged with any crime.
The accident killed Jorge “Tito” Soto, of Freeport, and wounded six other people in Freeport Creek near Cow Meadow Park.
Ramos said police also have not met with Soto’s family or kept them updated on the investigation, which remains pending.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder denied that investigators have mistreated Soto’s family or given preferential treatment to the boat operator. He said everyone involved in the accident was tested for alcohol, the investigation has been thorough and impartial and police would take any evidence of a crime to the district attorney.
Soto’s father, Jose Soto Monge, said police have not helped his family.
“We need the truth,” he said in Spanish.
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