Simpson was initially charged with attempted felony murder, which was then changed to second-degree attempted murder. Photo: NBC // YouTube
A Miami Beach man has been charged with attempted murder after a dispute over a lobster fishing spot. Michael Joseph Simpson, 51, has been accused of shutting off the air supply to a teenage diver.
As NBC reports, the dispute occurred on July 29 around 5:30 a.m., at a lobster fishing dive spot near Fisher Island. Boaters were gathered for Lobster Sport Season, an annual two-day window during which scuba divers are allowed to harvest the animals before the start of the commercial lobster season.
The victim was preparing to dive when another boat approached, circled them and anchored nearby. The occupants of the second boat got in a verbal dispute with the crew of the victim’s boat, saying that the spot belonged to them, then warned them that another boat would be coming to the same area.
Soon after, a larger vessel arrived. By this point, the victim was around 40 feet underwater, using a tankless dive system called a Brownie Third Lung, which floats on the surface of the water and provides air to the diver via a hose. Witnesses told authorities that Simpson exited the larger boat and swam over to the apparatus to shut it off, despite warnings that it was in use. Soon after, both boats left the area.
On Tuesday, Simpson was booked into the Miami-Dade County jail on the charge of attempted felony murder. However, in a court appearance Wednesday, a judge changed the charge to second-degree attempted murder and Simpson was released on a $10,000 bond.
To add a twist of irony to the incident, Simpson was a volunteer member of the Miami-Dade County Boater Safety and Bay Education Task Force.
“The allegations against Mike Simpson are categorically false,” read a statement released by a spokesperson for Simpson’s family. “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.”
The statement goes on to assert that video of the incident does not actually show Simpson turning off the breathing device. It says the accuser instead fell off his own boat and become entangled in his own third lung. “Mike Simpson has devoted his life to boating safety,” it concludes. “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.”
