SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A fishing boat ran aground off Mission Beach early Friday morning, prompting a response from emergency crews.
The incident was reported shortly before 4:45 a.m. in the water off San Fernando Place, several blocks from Belmont Park.
Rescue crews assisted 15 people off the boat named Pacifica. No injuries were reported.
One boater told 10News everyone on board was asleep when the boat suddenly hit the beach.
10News learned the boat -- with 15 passengers five crew members -- and was on its way back to San Diego after a day-and-a-half fishing trip in Mexico.
The Pacifica had to be towed back into open water by a tug boat.
The incident is under investigation.
The captain of 'The Pacifica' was listed online as Andrew Viola, who is linked to a deadly boat crash from Oct. 2018. In the October incident the fishing boat named 'The Prowler' crashed into a mega-yacht off the coast of Imperial Beach.
One person died in that crash. Others were injured.
There was a lawsuit filed in that case. The attorney in that suit told 10News the same Andrew Viola that commanded the Pacifica, was the owner and operator of the 'The Prowler' during the Oct. 2018 crash. He says there is a pending settlement reached between the parties involved in that case.
10News has made attempts to contact Viola.
