Owner of company that rented personal watercraft to family of teens involved in fatal crash has history of boating-related charges – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
Two weeks ago, teen sisters were involved in a fatal crash on the water. Now, 7Investigates has learned there’s an active arrest warrant for the owner of the business that rented the personal watercraft to their family. The warrant is unrelated to the teen tragedy — which is still under investigation. 7News’ Heather Walker investigates.
911 call: “They’re yelling and screaming, so I’m assuming someone is hurt pretty bad.”
On Aug. 12, sisters Aviva and Rachel Nisanov slammed the personal watercraft they were riding into a concrete dock on the Intracoastal in Fort Lauderdale.
Officials say they jumped the wake of a passing boat and lost control.
911 call: “They hit really, really hard. I mean, they were going fast.”
Thirteen-year-old Rachel did not survive.
Tyson Matthews, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesperson: “This is a heartbreaking loss for everyone involved in this community.”
The sisters were taking part in a guided tour. Now, 7Investigates has discovered the owner of the company that rented the watercraft to their family has had more than a dozen boating-related charges filed against him in the last five years.
His name is Esteban Granados and he’s the owner of Prime Watersports LLC.
According to Broward Sheriff’s Office records, Granados has been in and out of Broward jail three times since 2022 and there is currently a warrant for his arrest — issued two months ago — for failing to show up to court.
It stems from a 2021 case in Hollywood, where police say Granados was operating a private jet ski rental business in a public park.
Another case involves a separate incident back in March.
Police cited Granados for renting a personal watercraft “without instruction on safe handling” and in both 2021 and 2023 — Granados pleaded no contest and was fined for renting personal watercraft without proper safety equipment.
Over the years, Granados has also been cited for operating personal watercraft at night, vessel registration issues and conducting business without an occupational license.
None of these cases is connected to the current investigation.
Granados turned down our request for an interview.
But in a statement, his attorney said:
“This was a tragic accident… Mr. Granados is heartbroken by this tragedy and looks forward to continuing to cooperate with law enforcement to aid their accident investigation.”
And while that state investigation continues, we’ve learned the Fort Lauderdale police marine unit stopped the teenage girls for a minor violation on their jet ski and discussed safety with them. No citations were issued.
Thirty minutes later, they crashed.
The attorney tells 7Investigates Granados was “unaware” an arrest warrant had been issued for him. There is a court hearing on the matter set for Wednesday morning.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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