“I heard a screech and then a thud.”
Witness Jeremy Thomas described what prompted him to navigate his skiff Dec. 26 to a single-vehicle crash at the Cortez Bridge. Thomas said the crash occurred at about 9:05 p.m., adding “the car must’ve been traveling at a high rate of speed.”
The vehicle careened and spun and then sailed over the side of the bridge, landing in Sarasota Bay.
The U.S. Coast Guard sent a vessel and the Florida Highway Patrol responded.
FHP reported a 2010 Nissan Sentra was eastbound on the bridge, east of Gulf Drive North in Bradenton Beach, when the driver, Brittany Johnson, 24, of Bradenton, “failed to maintain control.”
Thomas was one of several Good Samaritans who called the Coast Guard, rushing on the water in a skiff to rescue Johnson and her passenger, roommate Christopher Plantz, 28, of Bradenton.
The motorist swerved into the westbound lane and the Sentra struck a concrete curb, according to the FHP report.
The FHP cited Johnson, who sustained minor injuries, for careless driving.
“This is what happened,” Thomas said. “I heard it happen and called the Coast Guard three or four times.” Thomas said he attempted to notify the Coast Guard, but had trouble with his marine radio.
He lives with his wife aboard a sailboat in Bradenton Beach south of the city pier, just south of the Cortez Bridge.
They took a 10-foot dinghy to the scene.
“We get there and see the man and woman, the man clinging to an oyster-riddled piling and the woman in the water,” he added.
Both Plantz and Johnson tried to board Thomas’ boat, which proved difficult.
Thomas eventually pulled Johnson into the dinghy while Plantz retreated to the piling, where Thomas’ friend showed up in a 25-foot boat and “plucks the man out,” he said.
Plantz was passed to the Coast Guard vessel, which transported him to shore.
Thomas estimated the water was 7-12 feet deep.
As directed by the Coast Guard, Thomas took Johnson to a dock at the Tide Tables Restaurant and Marina, 12507 Cortez Road W., where emergency workers were waiting.
Owner Bobby Woodsen said the restaurant closed at 8 p.m. but he was there and watched as the rescuers brought the woman to his dock.
“We didn’t hear anything until all the cops and ambulances came,” he said, adding at first the responders didn’t believe there was a car in the water “because there were no marks on the bridge.”
EMS transported Johnson to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton. Plantz also was admitted into Blake. They were treated for minor injuries and released.
FHP Trooper Kenneth Watson said the cause was unknown and the crash was under investigation.
At about midnight, a crane pulled the submerged vehicle out of the water and it was towed from the scene.
Florida Department of Transportation public information officer Robin Stublen said Dec. 28 that the bridge had some damage, but the repairs needed were “cosmetic.”
“There are a few scrapes and a few patches we’ll have to do. But it’ll be easy-peasy,” he added.
This news article is not completely correct. I am the person removed from the water that night. I do very much appreciate Mr. Thomas for responding to us that night. I fought for my life that night and it was a hard. That night changed everything for me.