Tender, supervisor fired following death of woman on rising West Palm Beach drawbridge
The bridge tender who was operating a West Palm Beach drawbridge the day a 79-year-old woman fell to her death, as well as her supervisor, have been fired.
Florida Drawbridges Inc., in a statement, said it terminated drawbridge tender Artissua Paulk for violating the company’s safe operating procedures. Her supervisor was terminated for violating the company’s code of ethics and document retention policy. The company said the decision was made based on the information from the police investigation into the tragedy.
Paulk, 43, was arrested Thursday at her Palm Beach County home on a charge of manslaughter by culpable negligence in the death of Carol Wright on Feb. 6. She’s out on a $20,000 bond and was given a no-contact order for witnesses, including her supervisor, and Wright’s family, court records show. She was assigned an attorney from Palm Beach County’s public defender’s office.
The Herald has contacted Paulk’s attorney for comment. The Herald is not naming Paulk’s supervisor because she has not been charged.
Their termination comes after police say they obtained surveillance video and deleted text messages between Paulk and her supervisor that show she lied in her statement to detectives during the investigation.
The investigation
At the Royal Park Bridge in West Palm Beach, bridge tenders work on the second floor of a tower in a room surrounded by windows to ensure they have a 360-degree view of the area, according to Paulk’s arrest affidavit. A balcony also wraps around the tower so tenders can walk around it to inspect the bridge before, during and after each opening.
Police say Paulk told them she made two separate announcements through the loudspeaker to notify people the bridge was going to open, turned on the red drawbridge traffic lights, waited for a man who was running to get off the bridge, and lowered the traffic and pedestrian gates. She says she went on the balcony three times to check that there were no cars or pedestrians on the bridge before opening it, according to the affidavit.
Her supervisor told detectives bridge tenders are required to turn the traffic lights red, close the traffic and pedestrian gates and come out onto the balcony three different times to ensure there are no vehicles or pedestrians on the bridge before opening it, the affidavit states. If the tender sees someone on the bridge, they are required to open the gates to let them out and check that there is no one else on the bridge before opening it.
However, surveillance cameras — which recorded someone coming out to the balcony and walking around during three earlier bridge openings on Feb. 6 — never shows Paulk or anyone else on the balcony prior to the 1 p.m. bridge opening (when Wright fell), West Palm Beach police Det. Ivy Erhardt wrote in the affidavit.
Police say surveillance video shows there were six bridge openings during Paulk’s shift, even though she told them she did five openings and had only listed four openings on a log inside the tower. Police say the video shows someone went out on the balcony at 8:08 a.m., 8:59 a.m., and 9:03 a.m. The door to the balcony doesn’t open at any other point during her shift, Erhardt wrote.
“Video evidence contradicts Artissua Paulk’s statement that she walked out onto the balcony and visually checked the bridge for vehicles or pedestrians prior to opening the bridge,” Erhardt wrote. “Artissua Paulk’s actions showed reckless disregard of human life and the safety of a person, specifically Carol Wright, who was exposed to its dangerous effects which resulted in Carol Wright’s death.”
Paulk consciously followed a course of conduct that she must have known or reasonably should have known was likely to cause death or great bodily injury,” Erhardt added.
The text messages
After getting a search warrant for Paulk’s phone, investigators determined she wasn’t using her cellphone at the time of the accident. Police say they did find text messages between Paulk and her supervisor, sent after Wright fell, discussing what to do:
“When they talk to you make dam sure you tell them you walked outside 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,” Paulk’s supervisor texted her at 3:20 p.m.
At 3:21 p.m., Paulk responded “I did.” At 3:59 p.m., the supervisor wrote to Paulk: “You have to write out step by step what you did ok up till time you were told someone fell.” All three messages were deleted, cops said.
The texts occurred during the time frame between the supervisor and Paulk’s statements, Erhardt wrote.
How the tragedy happened
Wright was walking her bicycle across the bridge on Feb. 6 when it opened for a passing boat. A man on a skateboard tried to save her. Another man who saw Wright holding onto the railing, screaming for help, told detectives he honked his car’s horn to get the tender’s attention, but the bridge kept opening. When the bridge closed, he drove over the bridge and went to the bridge tender tower to notify Paulk about what had happened. Paulk said she never saw Wright, police said.
The Medical Examiner determined Wright died from blunt force trauma to the head and torso, according to Paulk’s arrest affidavit. Her death was ruled accidental.
Lance Ivey, the attorney for Wright’s family, has previously said the family plans to sue Florida Drawbridges Inc. and that they also want to enact changes to prevent another tragedy from happening.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 9:04 PM.
