MIAMI — A man facing an attempted murder charge after Miami-Dade deputies said he turned off an 18-year-old diver’s air supply is forcefully pushing back on the allegations.
Michael Simpson, 51, of Miami Beach, held a news conference in Miami on Friday morning.
Deputies said the incident happened on July 29 during lobster mini-season off Fisher Island while diver Hunter Cofer was in the water searching for lobsters.
They said in a fight over a diving spot, he became irate and threatened to turn off Cofer’s air supply, then made good on the threat.
But Simpson said that’s not at all what happened. On Friday, he said he had swam over to see why Cofer’s father, whom he said was being belligerent, was yelling at his son. Simpson said that the teen’s father accidentally turned off the air supply while trying to pull on a float.
“He pulls it, and the machine turns off. He kind of does this shuffle. He slips. He falls on the edge of the boat and falls into the water,” Simpson said. “Immediately, the gentleman comes up and does one stroke towards my child to turn off the air. It’s a lie. It’s (a) 100% lie. Why would the dad need to lie that he jumped in? He fell in front of everybody.”
Simpson said the teen underwater was tangled. Deputies said there were there no injuries. Simpson showed media outlets a video where state wildlife officers spoke to him later on without incident. He said he didn’t flee the scene; he just motored away about 300 yards to get away.
Simpson has retained attorney Howard Srebnick, who recently led a successful defense in another high-profile maritime case in Miami-Dade County: Jurors found his client, George Pino, not guilty in a vessel homicide case back in June.
Simpson and Srebnick have promised to fight the charges.
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