Cops on Long Island have launched a criminal probe into the tragic drowning death of a Harlem sixth-grader during a class trip to an unguarded beach, The Post has learned.
“We’re looking to see if any of the adults involved in this have any criminal responsibility,” a high-ranking source said. “There’s a crime called endangering the welfare of children, and it’s hard to see how this doesn’t fit that description.”
Three chaperones — teacher Erin Bailey, substitute teacher Joseph Garnevicus and college intern Victoria Wong — took 24 kids from Columbia Secondary School, including ill-fated 12-year-old Nicole Suriel, to Long Beach Tuesday as a reward for raising the most money in a walkathon.
No lifeguards were on duty because the summer season hadn’t started. Minutes after the children arrived, Suriel was swept out to sea by a powerful riptide. It took rescuers 90 minutes to find her.
A child on the trip, who did not want to be identified by name, told The Post that an adult supervisor said students could go in the water as long as they stayed in a certain area.
“No swimming” signs are posted at boardwalk entrances to the beach and on the backs of lifeguard chairs.
Long Beach detectives interviewed 15 of the 24 students who were on the trip, said town city manager Charles Theofan, who confirmed a criminal investigation was under way.
The children told the authorities they entered the beach by walking up a ramp to the boardwalk — where a sign stating “no swimming” and “no lifeguard on duty” is prominently posted.
No one has been charged. The Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers declined to comment on the probe.
Despite the tragedy three days ago, people continued to illegally swim at Long Beach yesterday, including three people who had to be rescued after a sandbar collapsed.
Chris Wilson, 21, from Rosedale, Queens, is in critical condition at Long Beach Medical Center after being rescued at 2 p.m. by lifeguards doing a pre-season set-up.
Yesterday, Nicole’s family mourned her at a wake in Washington Heights.
“My daughter, my daughter,” Nicole’s mother wailed in Spanish as she stood over the girl’s light-gray metallic casket, surrounded by four large floral arrangements.