A 10-year-old boy and a man were pulled from rip currents on the north end of Coquina Beach July 3 by Manatee County lifeguards.
Manatee County Marine Rescue Chief Joe Westerman said both incidents occurred in the morning. Chelsea Hart rescued the boy and Cody Sullivan saved the man.
EMS or transport to a hospital did not become necessary.
Westerman said, “They were successfully rescued and went on to enjoy the rest of their weekend.”
Along with the rescues, lifeguards at Coquina Beach, a 1-mile stretch of county-run beach in Bradenton Beach, and Manatee Public Beach, a 400-yard stretch of shoreline in Holmes Beach, reunited several lost children with their parents and resolved minor incidents, he said.
Westerman estimated the crowds during the July 4 weekend were similar to Memorial Day weekend — but had no numbers as in previous years.
“All in all, it was all good,” Westerman said about the holiday.
Bradenton Beach Police Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz and Manatee County Sheriff’s Sgt. Russell Schnering, who heads MCSO’s Anna Maria substation, reported no fireworks confiscations.
Fireworks enforcement in Bradenton Beach is a question of manpower, Diaz said.
BBPD arrested Nardiel Negron-Mojica, 20, of Bradenton, following a July 4 disturbance at the south end of Coquina Park. Police observed Negron-Mojica take a baseball bat from a vehicle. BBPD searched the vehicle and found a firearm wrapped in a T-shirt under a car seat. At his first appearance, the 12th Circuit Court assigned $57,500 in bonds on warrants and $1,500 on a concealed firearm charge.
Anna Maria MCSO also made one arrest during the holiday weekend — for drug possession, Schnering said.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer reported “some fireworks” were confiscated and would be destroyed by the MCSO.
Tokajer said the HBPD monitored July 4 fireworks “from the roadway” and did not confront those shooting off an unlicensed 30-minute fireworks display in Holmes Beach, viewed by beachgoers waiting for the authorized Anna Maria fireworks show to begin.
He said police ATVs were unsafe to use because of “so many people” on the beach and, when it became dark, “it was hard to tell what was what.”
For the July 2-4 weekend, HBPD reported code enforcement wrote 144 parking tickets — up from 104 in 2015.
Holmes Beach police wrote 21 traffic tickets and made 11 arrests during the weekend.
In Anna Maria, Schnering reported 190 parking violations, many near Bayfront Park on North Bay Boulevard.
Estimated beachgoers:
Coquina Manatee Beach
July 4, 2013 13,000 6,500
July 4, 2014 26,000 10,000
July 4, 2015 10,000 8,500