19-year-old Venezuelan man was stopped in the water when struck head-on by second jet ski, witnesses report
Luis Guevara, 19, an infielder in the Baltimore Orioles’ Minor League system, has died, the team announced on June 17.
“Guevara was involved in a jet ski crash” on Sunday, June 15 in Sarasota, a news release said. “[T]wo watercraft had a head-on collision off Lido Key,” it added.
Residents who live on South Lido Key have appeared at Sarasota County Commission meetings over the past two years to complain about the extensive use of jet skis offshore of the county’s Ted Sperling Park, which fronts on the Gulf and Big Sarasota Pass. The homeowners have pointed out that many of the jet ski users are reckless on the water.
A June 19 Baltimore Sun article cited the Sarasota Police Department report on the incident in writing that Guevara “suffered traumatic internal and brain injuries after he was struck by an airborne personal watercraft …”
(Because of a 2023 change in Florida’s public records law, The Sarasota News Leader is unable to qualify to receive copies of crash reports.)
The Orioles postponed their Florida Complex League games on Monday and Tuesday following the incident, the team pointed out in its news release.
The website of the Florida Complex League explains that the League, which is operated by Major League Baseball, “is a Rookie-level circuit that has operated in Florida since 1964.” It previously was known as the Gulf Coast League, the website points out. Most games are played at Major League Spring Training complexes, it adds, and they are open to the public with free admission. The Orioles play their home games at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.
In response to a News Leader request for copies, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office provided the publication 11 audio recordings of 911 calls about the June 15 crash. The time noted on each was just after 8 p.m.
The names of the callers were redacted, as is the agency’s usual practice.
One woman, who indicated that both she and her husband had witnessed the incident, told the dispatcher that they were in the water off Ted Sperling Park, but they were well removed from the crash. Nonetheless, the woman reported, “We heard [it] all the way over here.”
“The guy was stopped,” the woman said of Guevara, noting that he was the solitary person on his jet ski. “I don’t know why that other guy ran into him … full throttle,” she added. Guevara, she said, “got hit in his head.”
The second jet ski had two people on it, the woman reported.
When she called 911, she continued, Guevara and the other two people still were in the water.
Then, moments later, she told the dispatcher that Guevara was out of the water. “This guy really needs medical attention,” she stressed.
The dispatcher advised her that Sarasota County EMS personnel were on their way, along with members of the Sarasota Police Department, including a Marine Patrol vessel.
A second caller, who was male, told a different 911 dispatcher that he also had witnessed the incident. He, too, reported that the collision was head-on. “They ran over the guy’s head,” the man said.
After Guevara was brought out of the water, the man continued, someone began performing CPR on him on the beach. Yet, the man added of Guevara, “He’s dying; he’s dying! … It’s a bad one.”
“Luis was a beloved member of our organization, and we are devastated following his tragic passing,” Orioles General Manager Mike Elias said in a statement that was included in the team’s news release about Guevara’s death. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and teammates, and we ask for their continued privacy during this difficult time.”
A team post on X, formerly Twitter, noted that the Orioles signed Guevara “as an international free agent out of Venezuela in January 2023. He appeared in 30 games this year, his first season in the United States, playing in 24 games with Single-A Delmarva, four with the [Florida Complex League] Orioles, and two with Double-A Chesapeake. He spent his first two professional seasons,” 2023 and 2024, with the Dominican Summer League Orioles, the post added.