An Atlantic City man is charged with aggravated manslaughter in a boating crash the killed a Ventnor woman this summer.
Jeffrey Jastrzembski, 53, was at least twice the legal limit Aug. 12, when he struck Norma Michaels, who was swimming in the area, according to the allegations.
Jastrzembski was operating the boat in the area of the Albany Avenue Bridge at about 5:14 p.m., when he accelerated toward the docks, and made an aggressive turn port side, causing the boat's propeller to strike Michaels, 79, according to an investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office Fatal Crash Investigation Unit and the N.J. State Police.
“I was in the restroom when the initial striking occurred but was rushed out by my wife frantically saying there was a guy acting crazy on a boat,” Alan Houser told BreakingAC at the time. “What I saw afterwards was the guy operating his vessel in a frantic manner and a lot of people yelling at him, telling him to park."
“As he parked, he tossed items in the water that appeared to be cans or bottles,” Houser said, adding that Jastzembski “immediately ran off of his boat and around the front of the house he parked behind.”
He did not leave the scene, police said at the time.
Jastzembski was listed as the registered agent for All Marine Center of Atlantic City LLC, a boat storage facility and repair shop at 1501 Albany Ave., according to records.
He turned himself in Thursday, with his attorney, Charles Nugent Jr., according to information given during a brief court appearance Friday.
Jastzembski is in the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending a detention hearing set for Thursday.
