Woman who fell from Brickell Avenue Bridge sat there for 20 minutes before she fell: cops

A woman who plunged from the Brickell Avenue Bridge as it rose and reached its peak was asked to get off by the bridge tender, but she returned and sat down for 20 minutes and could not been seen when he raised the drawbridge, according to a Miami Police incident report.

The dramatic fall happened around 10:40 a.m Saturday and was captured on video by a bystander. The video shows the woman, 49, whose name was redacted in the police incident report, clinging to the bridge’s railing before sliding down the drawbridge and falling to the roadway below.

She survived the fall.

READ MORE: Shocking video shows woman tumble down fully raised Brickell Bridge

Around 10 a.m. the bridge tender used the intercom to instruct the woman to clear the bridge so he could raise it for boat traffic on the Miami River, according to police. The bridge tender’s name was redacted from the report.

He told police he saw her walking off the bridge. But police say she returned and sat near the bridge’s midpoint, out of the bridge tender’s view, around 10:18 a.m.

About 20 minutes later, the bridge tender, who did not realize she was still sitting on the bridge, lowered the crosswalk arms to stop vehicles and pedestrians. Two minutes later, the bridge began to rise and the woman was seen clinging to the bridge before she fell.

Miami Police and Fire Rescue responded quickly, with one officer injuring his hand on broken glass. Both the woman and the officer were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Her condition has not been released.

Robert Bruno, who recorded the video, told the Miami Herald he watched in disbelief. “It was something I always imagined happening, like, ‘What would I do?’” he said. “The woman held on for dear life.” He noted that people couldn’t immediately help her due to the raised bridge.

“It was intense,” he added.

Police are still investigating.

This story was originally published July 2, 2025 at 10:57 AM.