A college student from Long Island was arrested months after his pal drowned in a drunken canoe accident in Connecticut, according to authorities.
Michael Collins, 20, of Mineola, was cuffed on boating under the influence charges last week after his friend, Dominick Tocci, 20, died in a boating mishap on Lake Hayward on March 21, according to the Connecticut DEEP Environmental Conservation Police.
The pair — who were both students at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts — were allegedly drinking out on the lake with a group of friends before deciding to launch the canoe, according to police and Boston.com.
The canoe then suddenly capsized, sending them both toppling into the lake in East Haddam, police said.
Good Samaritans managed to rescue Collins, but Tocci, of Woodstock, Connecticut, went “missing in the water,” the department said in a statement.
Tocci’s body was recovered in the lake two days later following an extensive search.
Collins turned himself in to the police last Friday, over a week after a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to authorities.
Friends and family remembered Tocci as a “special kid” and a “bright light” who excelled in sports during tributes to the student in March.
“Dominick was a special kid,” Mike Sampson, Tocci’s former baseball coach, told Fox61. “He was so exuberant, such a big energy, a big personality. To know him was to really enjoy him, to love him.”
“He was always such a bright light,” his longtime friend Jonathan Smith added. “There was never a time where you weren’t smiling or laughing. Genuinely, there’s no one that could replace Dom.”
Collins was released from custody and is slated to return to court on July 23.
