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A charter boat captain accused of crashing his boat while he was intoxicated in the Florida Keys last summer was arrested on Tuesday, officials said.
Laurence Lee Lewis Jr., 42, is facing several charges, including three felony counts of boating under the influence and one felony count of child neglect.
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According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, on July 8, Lewis was operating a 35-foot-long vessel that had seven occupants on board when it crashed.
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When the group returned from a fishing trip, Lewis collided with the South Pine Channel Bridge while the boat was going at a high rate of speed, which ejected several passengers, officials said.
Following the collision, all seven passengers were injured and needed to be rescued from the water.
A 28-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy needed to be airlifted to the hospital after being launched from the boat.
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According to the victims, they saw Lewis drinking alcohol while they were on the fishing trip, and several bottles of alcohol and drug paraphernalia were discovered at the scene.
Lewis was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Monroe County jail, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
