Drunken Tourist and the Seven Mile Bridge.

[Bobcat]

Tourist airlifted after jumping off bridge
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com

A Massachusetts man who reportedly had been drinking all day fell head-first off the Seven Mile Bridge Monday night after leading a deputy on a high-speed chase up to 90 mph, according to Monroe County Sheriff's Office offense reports.

Dale Dorasa, 45, fell at least 100 feet from the peak of the bridge at 11 p.m. after getting out of his car and allegedly refusing deputies' orders.

"As I closed the distance to approximately four to five feet, I observed the driver roll off the top of the Jersey barrier and over the side of the bridge before I could grab him," wrote Deputy Joel Slough. "I watched as the driver plummeted to the water and disappear."

Dorasa surfaced a few seconds later and began treading water as deputies called the Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) while he screamed for help, reports say. Deputies lost sight of him when he floated under the old Seven Mile Bridge.

Dorasa was pulled from the water by Sheriff's Office Marine Deputy Wilfredo Guerra and taken to Coast Guard Station Marathon, where paramedics rushed him to the Florida Keys Marathon Airport for an airlift to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, reports say.

A warrant will be issued for Dorasa's arrest on charges of reckless driving, fleeing and eluding police and resisting arrest when he is released from the hospital, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deputy Becky Herrin.

At the Coast Guard station, Dorasa reportedly told Slough he drank seven or eight beers, but then changed his story, saying it was four beers.

"The driver did not have an answer as to why he fled the initial traffic stop," Slough wrote in his report. "He also could not explain stopping on the bridge and jumping off."

The incident began Deputy Vincent Weiner tried to stop the white rental Chevrolet Impala near 25th Street in Marathon after reports said the car was headed north in U.S. 1's southbound lanes.

Weiner pulled the car over near 22nd Street, where Dorasa reportedly stopped for a few seconds then "rapidly accelerated" headed south, the deputy wrote in his report.

Speeds reached 80 mph in the 35 mph zone and then 90 mph as Dorasa entered the Seven Mile Bridge.

The Impala engine then apparently broke down, its parts littering the highway, before Dorasa stopped at the peak of the bridge, near Mile Marker 44.1, and got out of the car, reports say.

Dorasa then "purposely went head-first over the concrete barrier" at gunpoint as deputies yelled at him to stop.

As he was drifting in the water, Weiner yelled at him to grab the bridge support, but Dorasa was apparently unable to do so.

Weiner contacted Darosa's son at a rental on Aviation Boulevard who told the deputy his father was a recovering alcoholic and recently began drinking again, the report states.

The father had been drinking all day during a fishing trip, the son reportedly told Weiner.

Darosa's condition at Ryder could not be confirmed as of press time.

"He appeared to be OK, but you never know with a jump that distance, and medics wanted to be on the safe side regarding possible internal injuries," Herrin said.

alinhardt@keysnews.com

[clayinaustin]

When a cop asks you how many beers you had that day, you always say, "I have not been drinking today, Sir."

Always deny that you have been drinking!

[old377guy]

When a cop asks you how many beers you had that day, you always say, "I have not been drinking today, Sir."

Always deny that you have been drinking!

Experience??

[rschap1]

Truth is never the best answer

[fund razor]

Why NOT to buy used rental cars.

[clayinaustin]

Experience??

Yep. I've been pulled over many times and always denied drinking. 55 years old and never a DWI.

[fund razor]

Truth is never the best answer

47 years old, and never had to lie to a cop.

[old377guy]

no DUII's here either - what a bunch of choirboys

[Buoy]

no DUII's here either - what a bunch of choirboys

um...er... no comment...

[poncho]

Here they don't need probable cause to pull you over and ask for a breath test. If you blow 0.05 its a 24hr roadside suspension of your license, impound of your car. About $600 in fines and impound fee's.

[Bobcat]

Little easier down here, as you can walk or ride a bike.....even a cab ride home is only ten-twelve bucks. When i lived in the Mid-West I drove home numerous times when I shouldn't have....when it's twenty below you can't sleep it off in the car !

[Ratickle]

Here they don't need probable cause to pull you over and ask for a breath test. If you blow 0.05 its a 24hr roadside suspension of your license, impound of your car. About $600 in fines and impound fee's.

0.05 is like one beer, isn't it????

[Bobcat]

I think Mouthwash is like 0.03

[old377guy]

I think Mouthwash is like 0.03

........depending on how much you swallow......

[poncho]

0.05 is like one beer, isn't it????

Not sure but it probably is. Alberta is adopting our laws as well. We have the toughest drunk driving laws in North America. Gov website says:

Your breath sample contains a BAC of not less than 0.05, the following consequences will occur:



1st time within five-year period

•Your driver's licence is seized immediately, prohibiting you from driving for three days.
•The vehicle you are driving may be impounded for three days; and if so, you are responsible for all towing and vehicle storage costs.
•You are required to pay a $200 administrative penalty.
•You have to apply to have your driver's licence reinstated and pay the licence reinstatement fee as well as any other outstanding debts to ICBC or the Government of BC if you wish to drive again.

I thought it was 24hrs suspended, but its 3 days. Not sure how much the licence reinstatement fee is, but with impound fees and administrative penalty. It will cost you about $600. Our cops can just pull you over for no reason and we have drunk driving check point road blocks. So its pretty dangerous to drive even with one drink. I've stopped going to the bars and having drinks in restaraunts because of it.

[Bobcat]

It isn't about public safety.....it's about making money.

[poncho]

It isn't about public safety.....it's about making money.

No courts invovled either so its cheap to run. Local paper had a story that our 3 day suspensions are up because we have more police devoted to drunk driving. The town has found a money maker!

[clayinaustin]

It isn't about public safety.....it's about making money.

You are exactly correct. That's why you ALWAYS deny and refuse.

Deny you have been drinking and Refuse to blow.

You may not beat the ride, but you can beat the rap. (after you pay thousands for lawyer fees and court costs)