Boater in Clearwater ferry crash steps down from Jannus Live
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
/2025/04/30/1746047368592.gif?w=3840)
The recreational boat can be seen slamming into and overriding the ferry in this video from a camera stationed at Coachman Park. Video: City of Clearwater
The local business owner who is under investigation for his role in a fatal Clearwater ferry crash "is stepping down" from his position at Jannus Live, the downtown St. Petersburg concert venue announced Wednesday.
State of play: Jeff Knight "will no longer have any affiliation with the venue," read a statement posted on Instagram, signed "The Jannus Live family."
- The statement attributes the decision to Sunday's crash, which killed ferry passenger Jose Castro, a 41-year-old father of two girls, and injured 10 others.
The intrigue: The statement didn't specify whether Knight has sold his ownership stake in the company or plans to do so.
- A statement provided to Axios by Travis Horn, president and CEO of public relations firm Bull Horn Communications, said Knight "no longer has any title or position" at Jannus Live, but it didn't address ownership.
- Knight became a minority owner in the venue in 2009, per a Tampa Bay Times story.
Catch up quick: Knight was driving a 37-foot recreational boat Sunday night when it plowed into the back of a Clearwater ferry with 45 people on board just south of the Memorial Causeway, authorities said.
- Knight, who court records show has a history of DUI and boating-related legal trouble, had no alcohol in his system and has been cooperative with authorities, per the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is investigating the crash along with the U.S. Coast Guard.
- Although authorities haven't arrested anyone, Castro's family this week called for justice, the Times reported. "I want this guy to pay for what he did," Castro's sister told the newspaper.
The latest: Kevin Hayslett, Knight's lawyer, sent a letter to investigators Tuesday saying the ferry wasn't adequately lighted at the time of the crash, the Times reported. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, which runs the ferry system, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
- Hayslett also disputed initial reports from police that the crash was a hit-and-run. Knight had someone on his boat call 911 and stayed at the scene, offering help, until emergency responders got there, his lawyer said.
- He did eventually leave because his boat was taking on water, Hayslett wrote, per the Times. Law enforcement helped tow him to the Belleair Causeway boat ramp.
- A city camera that captured the crash shows Knight's boat remaining at the crash scene for about 10 minutes before driving off.
Yes, but: The manager of a pirate cruise crew that was nearby on the water that night, and which helped some of the passengers in the aftermath, said he was skeptical of Hayslett's claim about the lighting.
- "I would be shocked. It would be the first night [the ferry's lighting] was out," Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise manager Tom Leogrande told the Times. "We've never had a problem seeing the ferry."