A damaged silver 2004 Toyota Highlander is recovered on Friday, April 13 after a local driver overran the dead-end portion of 49th Street South in Gulfport and landed 50 feet from the shoreline in Boca Ciega Bay.A local woman experienced some bad luck when she extended the dead-end section of 49th Street South in Gulfport on Friday, April 13 by driving her vehicle into Boca Ciega Bay just after 2 p.m.
According to the Gulfport police, a silver 2004 Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle was being driven by one of the registered owners, a 64-year-old female, at a high rate of speed when she passed the dead-end road signage, went over the concrete seawall and landed upright in three feet of water about 50 feet from the waterline.
A local and unidentified resident assisted the driver from the vehicle and onto land.
“The mud was the worst thing about getting the vehicle out of the salt water,” said Austin Dimarco, a tow truck driver and vehicle recovery technician from Stepp’s Auto Salvage of Clearwater.
Officer Christopher Priest believed the driver may have been suffering from a medical issue and that alcohol was not a factor in the crash. The woman was transported to Bayfront Medical Center for an evaluation.
A Gulfport woman had some bad luck on Friday, April 13 when she drove her vehicle past the dead-end signage of 49th Street South at high speed and into Boca Ciega Bay. The vehicle landed upright about 50 feet from the waterline. Photo by Elizabeth Brown-Worthington.
