KEANSBURG — A day of boating turned fatal for a Hazlet Township man.
The facts are still sketchy, but the results remain clear. Raul Ruiz, 37, of Peters Place, was boating alone in his 24-foot Pantera, an inboard-outboard speedboat, in the Raritan Bay on Friday afternoon.
He was about 250 feet from the Keansburg Fishing Pier, where his pregnant wife watched and videotaped her husband’s activities.
N.J. State Marine Police Trooper Peter Pfeifer reported that witnesses saw the boat hit a large swell at about 2:15 p.m.
The boat catapulted into mid-air and landed on its stern, Pfeifer said.
Ruiz "was ejected from the craft and removed from the water by the U.S. Coast Guard Sandy Hook Station," a state Marine Police report read.
The boat continued to run on its own until it was eventually beached on a Union Beach sand bar, Pfeifer added.
Ruiz was found near the scene in the water by the Coast Guard. He was not wearing a life jacket.
The report further specified that Ruiz was taken to Bayshore Community Hospital, Holmdel, where he was pronounced dead at 4:14 p.m.
Authorities responding to the scene included Keansburg police, fire and EMS departments; the New York City Police Department Helicopter Unit; Middletown EMS; the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office; and the U.S. Coast Guard, Sandy Hook.
Ruiz was employed by the International Longshoremen’s Association, Port Elizabeth.
Ruiz was an area resident for 15 years.
He leaves behind a wife, Michelle; a daughter, Olivia; his parents, Onia and Raul Ruiz of Hazlet; and a brother, Miguel Ruiz of Freehold.
A funeral will be held today at 11 a.m. at Day Funeral Home, Maple Place, Keyport. Interment will be at Fair View Cemetery, Middletown.