MANATEE COUNTY, FL (WFLA) – The driver of a vehicle on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge accidentally fell off the bridge attempting to change a tire on Sunday night.
The incident happened when the SUV the man was driving suffered a blow out of a tire on the Manatee County side of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge around 9:20 p.m. The SUV was occupied by a driver and two passengers.
The man, identified as 43-year-old Reginald White of Bradenton, was attempting to change the tire when he backed up to avoid traffic and accidentally fell over a thigh-high wall on the bridge, St. Petersburg police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez said.
White fell about 30 feet into Tampa Bay, Fernandez said. He was able to reach a piling and held on until a St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Marine unit plucked him off the piling.
White was taken to Bayfront Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The other two people in the vehicle were not injured.
The Florida Highway Patrol is handling the incident. The St. Petersburg Police Department, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the rescue.
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