The driver who crashed his speedboat killing himself and two others in Seaford four weeks ago was drunk, Nassau police said Wednesday.

George Canni, 65, of Copiague, turned out to have a blood alcohol content of .08, the legal minimum for a criminal charge of driving or boating while intoxicated. Cannie had been thrown off the 40-foot Pleasurecraft when it plowed onto a small island amid marshland in Bellmore Channel in the Oct. 4 crash.

He was pronounced dead by rescuers when they arrived. Two other victims who were killed were the captain’s wife, Theresa Maniaci-Canni, 46, and Joseph Sugamele, 50, of Massapequa. Four others were injured in the crash.

Attorney James Mercante, who represents the Cannis’ estate, said Wednesday that he hadn’t yet seen the findings. Mercante said the accident “may have had nothing to do with alcohol.”

Larry Weiss, a spokesman for United States Power Squadrons in New York, said those channels are difficult to navigate. Says Weiss: “Add to that alcohol and darkness, and you have a catastrophe waiting to happen.”

With Associated Press