Mexico tycoon arrested after son, 11, died after being hit by boat

Tiburon police chief Mike Cronin answers a reporter's question during a news conference about Javier Burillo on manslaughter charges. Photo / AP

A member of one of Mexico's wealthiest families was arrested on manslaughter charges after his 11-year-old son died on a family boating trip in the San Francisco Bay, police said Monday.

Javier A. Burillo, 57, was arrested Sunday at his multimillion-dollar home in the bay front community of Belvedere on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with a vessel, willful harm or injury to a child and operating a boat while under the influence, Tiburon Police Chief Michael Cronin said.

Burillo was driving the boat with his two sons, aged 11 and 27, aboard on Sunday. Both sons fell off the boat in open waters near Angel Island, north of San Francisco, Cronin said. Investigators believe the boys were thrown overboard when the boat hit a wave, said Cronin, who declined to discuss any other details at a news conference Monday.

He said Burillo helped bring the two back aboard and transported them to the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, where the 11-year-old boy was pronounced dead.

Cronin said Burillo was also the one who called authorities around 7pm on Sunday.

Property records show Burillo's full name is Javier Burillo Azcarraga, a wealthy property developer known for lavish hotels and restaurants throughout Mexico.

Cronin declined to discuss Burillo's links to the Azcarraga family, which founded Grupo Televisa SA, a media empire that produces Spanish-language television programming seen across Latin America and dominates news coverage in Mexico.

"I know him as Javier Burillo," Cronin said, adding that the developer is a well-known and liked member of the Tiburon-Belvedere community. Cronin wouldn't confirm his full name.

Burillo's older son had cuts to his leg and was transported to a hospital. He spoke to investigators but Cronin wouldn't say what he told them.

"It's a tragedy. We're all heartsick about it. The community is shocked," he said.

Online jail records indicate he was released on US$1 million bail Monday afternoon.

US property records show Burillo's Marin County home was purchased in 2004 for US$10.2 million. US records show he and his wife, Rose, also own properties in San Diego and Sausalito.

A New York Times story about his February 1989 wedding to Alejandra Aleman, the daughter of late Mexican President Miguel Aleman, said he owned Casa de Campo, a resort and restaurant in Cuernavaca, the Hotel Ritz in Acapulco, and other real-estate holdings.

- AP