Man cut off diver’s air supply during dispute over Miami lobster fishing spot, report says
A man accused of cutting off a diver’s air supply after a dispute over a lobster fishing spot in Miami was arrested on Tuesday, authorities said.
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Michael Joseph Simpson, 51, was originally charged with attempted felony murder, but during his court appearance on Wednesday, a judge agreed with his lawyers that the charge was not accurate. He is now charged with second-degree attempted murder.
The judge gave Simpson a $10,000 bond.
According to authorities, on July 29, at around 5:30 a.m., an owner and operator of a boat took the 18-year-old victim to a known lobster diving location for the two-day Lobster Sport Season.
An arrest report said that while the victim was preparing for the dive, another vessel, a Conch, started approaching at a high-rate of speed and started circling the boat the victim was on.
The captain of the Conch then anchored about 10 feet from the boat, and a verbal dispute broke out between the occupants of the Conch, claiming that the other boat operator was in their spot, the report said.
The operator, the report said, told them that he anchored before they arrived, and the occupants of the Conch said, “Wait until the 39-foot Contender arrives!”
Shortly after, a Contender arrived and placed itself near the operator’s boat, the report said. The boat operator said that the victim was in the water and was using a Brownie Third Lung breathing apparatus, which floats on the water and provides divers with air through a hose system.
After the boat operator warned a juvenile from the Contender to stay away from the Brownie Third Lung, Simpson became angry and said, “I’ll turn the Brownie off if I want to,” the report said.
Simpson, the report said, was then seen swimming over to the Brownie and turning it off, which cut the victim’s air supply.
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Occupants on the vessel then started to yell at Simpson, and the boat operator got into the water and pulled the victim to the surface using the air house, and the victim gasped for air and appeared disoriented, the report said.
Cellphone video captured Simpson swimming back to his boat after the air supply was shut off, before the boat left the area.
Days after the incident, he was arrested.
According to the Miami-Dade County Boater Safety and Bay Education Task Force, Simpson is listed as a member who is “representative of the local commercial vessel or operator industry.”
NBC6 has reached out to the mayor’s office for comment and is waiting to hear back.
A statement released by a spokesperson for Simpson’s family reads as follows:
“The allegations against Mike Simpson are categorically false. Mr. Simpson was diving from his boat with friends and his two young children. He never came into contact with, or interfered with, anyone’s diving equipment. The evidence tells a very different story than the accusations.
“Numerous eyewitnesses on two separate boats directly contradict the allegations, yet they were never interviewed before charges were filed. FWC interviewed Mr. Simpson on the water and cleared him minutes after the complaint. The video relied upon by the accusers shows no crime. It shows the accuser (off duty officer) fall off his own boat and become entangled in his own third-lung diving device while Mr. Simpson is nowhere near it.
“The accuser admits to being tangled in his own hose and anchor line at the time of the incident.Mike Simpson has devoted his life to boating safety. He has earned a reputation as one of South Florida’s safest and most responsible boaters and serves on a boating safety council. He looks forward to presenting the full facts in court, clearing his name, and restoring the reputation he has spent a lifetime building.”
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