A South Florida man was charged with attempted murder after he was accused of shutting off the air supply of a diver who was under water during a dispute about lobsters, the authorities said.
The man, Michael Joseph Simpson Jr., 51, of Miami Beach, was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail on the felony charge on Tuesday, according to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office. He was released on Wednesday.
Howard Srebnick, a lawyer for Mr. Simpson, called the allegations false.
“Mr. Simpson was diving from his boat with friends and two young children,” Mr. Srebnick said in a statement on Thursday. “He never disabled anyone’s diving equipment.”
The episode began just before 7 a.m. on July 29 when a boat owner and operator, Steven del Sol, took the diver to a known lobster diving spot in the waters off Miami during a two-day mini-season when recreational boaters in Miami are allowed to collect lobsters.
The diver, Hunter Coffer, was in the water when another boat, the Conch, approached “at a high rate of speed” and circled the anchored vessel, according to the arrest report.
The captain of the Conch then anchored his boat about 10 feet from the other vessel and the Conch’s occupants said to Mr. del Sol that his boat was “in their spot,” the report said. During the argument, the occupants of the Conch said, “Wait until the 39-foot Contender arrives!”
When that vessel arrived, it too was positioned about 10 feet away from Mr. del Sol’s boat, the police said.
Mr. del Sol had warned a juvenile diver in the arriving boat that his passenger, Mr. Coffer, was in the water and using a Brownie’s Third Lung breathing apparatus, a system that supplies air from the surface. That was when Mr. Simpson, who was aboard one of the boats that had arrived, was said to have stated that he would turn it off if he wanted to, the report said.
Witnesses told investigators that they then saw Mr. Simpson swim to the air-supply unit “and intentionally turn it off, cutting off the victim’s air supply,” according to the arrest document.
Video posted on Facebook and featured on South Florida NBC6 appeared to show part of the confrontation. “We have a diver down there,” a woman is heard shouting. “You wouldn’t like that done to your kids, would you?”
Mr. del Sol entered the water and pulled Mr. Coffer to the surface. The operator said that Mr. Coffer “was gasping for air, appeared disoriented, and did not understand what had occurred,” according to the report.
After the encounter, Mr. Simpson fled the area aboard the Contender, the report said. The occupants of Mr. del Sol’s boat later identified Mr. Simpson to the authorities, according to the document. Mr. Coffer did not appear to be injured.
Mr. Simpson voluntarily surrendered to the authorities, according to the police. He was released on a $10,000 bond on Wednesday, according to court records.
Mr. Srebnick said that his client “has devoted his life to boating safety” and has earned a reputation as a responsible boater who “serves on a boating safety council.”
Mr. Coffer was not available for comment on Thursday.
Florida allows commercial harvesting of spiny lobsters from early August through March 31. But during a two-day mini-season, which occurred this year on July 29-30, recreational divers may gather the shellfish. They can collect up to six lobsters per day in some areas, and up to 12 in others.
The waters can get crowded during those days, an expert said.
“There are just so many boats, it’s kind of a first-come, first-serve basis,” Scott Szczepaniak, a recreational boating program specialist with the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast District, said in an interview on Thursday.
The Coast Guard issued safety tips for boaters ahead of the season.
He added that “the Coast Guard encourages boaters at all times, especially during lobster mini-season to exhibit courteous behavior to other boaters.”
Alain Delaquérière contributed reporting.
