SAYVILLE, New York — Four Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers pulled a father and two children from Great South Bay after their jet ski struck a wave and capsized Sunday afternoon, according to the department.
The department said all three riders were wearing life jackets. None was injured.
Two Marine Bureau crews answer witness's 911 call
The watercraft overturned at approximately 3:55 p.m. Aug. 2, throwing the three riders into the bay. A witness called 911, prompting officers aboard two Suffolk County Police patrol boats to respond.
Officers Keith Miller and Robert King arrived aboard Marine Juliet. Officers Gary Quenzer and Chad Murray responded aboard Marine Mike, the agency said.
The officers deployed life rings and brought all three people out of the water. The riders were a 31-year-old father and children ages 16 and 10. ThinBlueNews is not republishing the children's names because their identities are not needed to explain the public-safety response.
Life jackets were already on all three riders
The department's release does not describe a medical emergency, hospitalization or further rescue treatment. It states that the father and children were wearing life jackets and were not injured.
That detail is part of the verified rescue record, not a guarantee that every capsizing will have the same result. The Marine Bureau tells people facing an imminent threat to life on the water to call 911 or make a Mayday call on marine VHF Channel 16.
Marine Juliet and Marine Mike serve different response roles
The Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau says its units patrol approximately 500 square miles of navigable waterways, including the Great South Bay and the islands within it. The bureau describes Juliett as one of its 40-foot patrol boats. It identifies the 27-foot Mike as a rapid-response boat that also serves as the unit's primary dive platform.
The agency says its vessels respond to search-and-rescue missions and other emergencies involving people or boats on the water. In Sunday's response, the department credited the four named officers with deploying flotation equipment and completing the recovery.
Readers can find more verified rescues and first-response stories in ThinBlueNews' police heroism, first responder news and positive police news coverage.
Sources and visual attribution
- Suffolk County Police Department: “Police Officers Rescue Three People After Jet Ski Capsizes,” released Aug. 2, 2026. Primary source for the time, sequence, responding officers and vessels, life-ring deployment, life-jacket use and uninjured outcome.
- Suffolk County Police Department Marine Bureau overview. Official source for the bureau's patrol area, vessel descriptions, rescue duties and emergency-contact guidance.
- Greater Long Island: local report on the Great South Bay rescue, published Aug. 2, 2026. Corroborating local coverage that places the capsizing off Sayville.
Featured-image note: No usable official incident photograph or video accompanied the release. ThinBlueNews therefore used a clearly labeled, non-documentary editorial card rather than a stock jet-ski image, an unrelated boat photograph or a fabricated rescue scene.
If an agency representative, responder or reader sees anything that should be corrected or updated, please contact ThinBlueNews through our corrections and editorial standards page.