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A drawbridge tender in Florida who was working when a 79-year-old woman fell from the bridge was arrested and charged Thursday in connection with her death.
West Palm Beach police arrested Artissua Lafaye Paulk, 43, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service. The woman was walking her bike across Royal Park Bridge when the span opened, causing the victim to fall, the police department said on Facebook. Paulk was charged with one count of manslaughter by culpable negligence.
The February 6 incident is similar to others in Florida in recent months. In March, a motorcycle driver in Daytona Beach drove by a lowered stop arm before falling off the vehicle as the drawbridge was rising. In Lantana last October, a bridge tender was fired after raising the Ocean Avenue Bridge while a car was still on it.
In the incident in West Palm Beach, police said the woman was just 10 feet away from the end of the bridge and tried to grab on to the hand railings before falling to her death. A bridge tender was on duty at the time of the incident. The deceased woman was identified as Carol Wright, according to the police report.
"The woman tried to hang on. There was a bystander nearby who tried to help her, but tragically she fell five or six stories below, where she died landing on concrete," said West Palm Beach police spokesman Mike Jachles, according to WPTV.
Paulk said she received a call around 1 p.m. from a boat and opened the bridge shortly afterward, according to the police report. She went onto the balcony and waited for a person to finish crossing the bridge and looked both ways before heading back inside. She said she came out to check again and didn't see anyone, then made a verbal announcement that she was opening the bridge.
Police later found text messages between Paulk and her supervisor. The messages were sent several minutes before she was about to open the bridge and several hours before she gave a statement to authorities, according to the arrest report.
Investigators determined Paulk had not been using her phone at the time of the incident, the police department said on Facebook.
Police said Paulk received a message at 3:20 p.m. from her supervisor. It read: "When they talk to you make dam sure you tell them you walked on balcony 3 diff times to make sure no one was past [gates] n delete this msg after one time to make sure card stop 2nd time after gates lowered and 3rd time before you raised spans ok now delete this I know ur upset but u gotta tell them step by step how u do opening [sic]."
Paulk responded, "I did."
The messages were both deleted, the police report said.
Police said Paulk has cooperated with detectives during the investigation. Following her arrest Thursday, she was brought to the West Palm Beach Police Department for questioning before being transported to the detention center.
If Paulk is found guilty of manslaughter by culpable negligence she faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Update 03/17/22, 4:30 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.
