Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Man whose wife died after boat accident sues

By CARRIE WEIMAR
Published October 12, 2006

TAMPA - The husband of a New Jersey woman killed in a boat collision off Anclote Key in January filed a lawsuit Wednesday blaming her death on the Odessa company that chartered their boat and the owners of the yacht that crashed into them.

Vincent Mazzola is asking for more than $75,000 in damages in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

Mazzola and his wife, Theresa, were two of six people on the Lazy Bones, a 31-foot fishing charter, the afternoon of Jan. 24.

They were anchored 10 miles west of Anclote Key when a 54-foot Sea Ray yacht emerged from the fog. The yacht ripped through the starboard side of the stern, taking off a corner of the boat from the railing to below the water line.

The impact threw the Mazzolas off the boat, according to the lawsuit. Theresa Mazzola, 67, complained of back pain after the collision and was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

She suffered several internal injuries and died that night.

Theresa Mazzola was a retired librarian. She and her husband were renting a condo in Clearwater for the winter.

The owner of the yacht, the Almost There, is Ronald M. Lacey, 45, of Crystal Beach. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In the lawsuit, Vincent Mazzola accuses Lacey and the owners of Lazy Bones Charter Inc. for negligence and the wrongful death of his wife.

Mazzola said Lazy Bones Charter did not take precautions that could have prevented the crash, including keeping a proper lookout, sounding fog signals or taking evasive action.

He also blames Lacey for failing to take similar precautions in the lawsuit. In addition, Mazzola accuses him of failing to properly light his yacht or maintain a safe speed on the night of the collision.

A trial date has not been set.

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 06:03:44]