CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Clearwater Ferry captain, who was operating the boat at the time of the deadly crash in April 2025, accepted a plea deal and will have his charge reduced.
Dennis Kimerer pleaded guilty on May 27 to misdemeanor charges stemming from a reported violation of a navigational rule that resulted in an accident, but it did not constitute reckless operation of a vessel. His charge will be reduced to a civil infraction. Kimerer has to pay a $500 fine.
Earlier this year, Jeff Knight had a pretrial hearing for his more notable role in the crash, where he faces eight felony counts of leaving the scene of a boating crash that killed one person and injured multiple people.
17% of Tampa residents are using 40% of the water during the worst drought in half a century
Mayor Jane Castor and Rory Jones, the city's water department director, gathered at the Hillsborough River Dam to sound the alarm. The dam itself tells the story more plainly than any statistic.
