Boater hauls in four injured people

LARGO -- While boating with friends about noon Sunday, Fred Pollack looked to his right and saw four people in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Not wanting to slap them with his wake, Pollack slowed his boat.

With his motor's growl lowered, Pollack could hear cries for help.

All four had been thrown from a personal watercraft about a mile south of the Belleair Causeway.

Pollack and his friends hauled them onto his parents' 21-foot Sea Ray. One was slipping out of consciousness and foaming at the mouth; another was dizzy and spitting up water.

Pollack radioed Largo Intercoastal Marine and told them to call 911, then steered his boat to shore.

The two seriously injured, Christopher and Lourdes Licata, a Seminole couple, were taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where they were listed in serious condition Sunday night.

The two others, the Licatas' 6-year-old daughter, Laura, and Lourdes Licata's sister, Carmen Markham, were taken to Sun Coast Hospital and later released.

Markham suffered cuts to her face, while the child complained of a sore back, said District Chief Harry Pier of Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue.

Pollack, an attorney who is a certified rescue diver and boating safety instructor, said all four family members were wearing life vests.

"Without them, they would not have lived," Pollack said.

Pinellas sheriff's officials investigating the crash said no one on board could tell them what caused the accident, or how long they had been in the water.

Christopher Licata, who was driving, bought the Yamaha 1200 watercraft a week ago, said sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita.

Licata can't remember anything about the accident, Tita said.

Markham, the most lucid after being pulled from the water, told rescuers she only remembers being in the water and looking over to see her sister and brother-in-law floating face-down. She turned them over, Pier said.

Pollack, 29, was going about 30 mph when he saw them in the water. He said there were other boats in the area, but they sped by without seeing the family.

He said Markham, 38, was clinging to the watercraft, as was her 6-year-old niece.

Markham also was holding 39-year-old Lourdes Licata, who was "pretty much unconscious and foaming at the mouth," Pollack said. Christopher Licata, 42, was floating on his back about 30 feet away.

The child was scared and very concerned for her parents. "She was definitely in a state of shock," Pollack said.

Pollack said he had the family on shore within 10 minutes. Another boater brought the watercraft to shore.

Tita said deputies found no damage to the watercraft, which seats four. Officials said it may have hit a sandbar, though Tita said they were unable to find one in the area.

Pollack, who lives in St. Petersburg, said he and his friends, Curtis Habib and David and Rebecca Terry, just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

He said he hopes everybody will be okay.

"We all exchanged hugs . . . before she (Markham) went off in the ambulance," Pollack said. "She thanked us for coming along."

-Chris Tisch can be reached at (727) 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com.

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