Southpinellas: Officer thwarts gators, rescues 2 people in lake

Officer thwarts gators, rescues 2 people in lake

Police Officer Randy Bricker towed in a woman and a man who went into cardiac arrest after trying to rescue her.

By MEGAN SCOTT

ST. PETERSBURG -- It started when a woman tried to swim across a lake where several alligators live.

Police said the woman swam to the center of the lake at Booker Creek Park on 13th Avenue N and began flailing her arms. Someone called the authorities.

St. Petersburg police Officer Randy Bricker was the first to arrive, about 5:15 p.m. He called to the woman: "Swim to the shore!" She didn't listen.

Bricker, thinking it was a suicide attempt, called for fire and rescue crews.

Before those crews arrived, a 40-year-old man jumped in the lake to rescue the 40-year-old woman, identified by police as Denise Glass, of St. Petersburg. Bricker called out to the man, telling him to come back. He didn't respond.

When he reached Glass, she "forced his head under the water," said St. Petersburg police Sgt. Dave Lindsay.

By this time, two gators were approaching the couple. They were about 12 feet away when Bricker fired six shots, but missed the gators. He jumped in the water and swam back with the people in tow.

The man went into cardiac arrest and went to Edward White Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Sunday night. Police did not release his name.

Bricker, 53, was also taken to Edward White. He has had two heart attacks and underwent heart surgery last year. He was in good condition Sunday.

"He was totally exhausted (after the rescue)," said Bill Doniel, St. Petersburg police spokesman. "He just had to lay on the bank."

Lindsay said Glass had been drinking and was trying to "swim across there to give the hospital a piece of her mind." He said Glass told police her husband died at Edward White, which is a short distance from the lake.

"She tied her shoes together, hooked them over her shoulder and started swimming out," he said.

Glass was in police custody Sunday night, pending charges. Lindsay said she could be charged with culpable negligence, a felony.

It was not known whether Glass flailed her arms because of the gators or because she was drowning.

"She was uncooperative and obnoxious when she got out of the water," Lindsay said.

Charles Carpenter, an alligator control agent, captured one of the gators Sunday evening using beef lung as bait. The 6-foot gator weighed about 55 pounds, and was about 3 or 4 years old.

Signs posted along the lake state: "Danger. Alligators" and "No Swimming."

"Anybody that jumps in the lake is asking for it," said Sharon Goucher, 22, who stood with a crowd that gathered by the lake Sunday.

Patricia Elder, who was sitting near the lake as Glass flailed in the water, said she tried to stop the man from going into the water.

"I told him, 'Don't go in there,' " she said. "She's too far out. He said, 'I got to help her.' "