By Mark Price
The Modesto Bee
VENICE, Fla. — Large alligators kept rescuer divers from reaching a pickup truck that plunged off a bridge and vanished in a canal, according to police in southwest Florida.
The single-vehicle crash happened just before 7 a.m. Sunday, June 22, in the murky Cow Pen Slough Canal in Venice , the Venice Police Department reported in a news release.
A cause of death for the driver, Fredy Chavez Sanchez, 19, has not been released, but rescue swimmers initially were not able to reach him due to menacing alligators, officials said. Two large alligators kept rescue divers from reaching the driver of this pickup after it ran off a bridge and landed upside down in a Florida canal, Venice police say. Venice Police Department photo
The divers stayed clear of the truck until after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent trappers to catch the alligators, police said.
“Evidence indicates a red Ford Ranger was traveling westbound on Rustic Road at a high rate of speed when it left the roadway, striking (a Florida Power & Light Company ) pole, and coming to rest inverted in the canal,” police said.
“After FWC removed two large alligators from the area, Venice divers assisted by Sarasota County (FL) Sheriff’s Office Special Ops conducted an assessment of the vehicle, confirming one entrapped deceased male.”
A fundraising campaign for Chavez said he died at the scene. Chavez was from Guatemala and recently graduated from high school with plans to attend college, a relative reported.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
Venice is about a 70-mile drive south from Tampa.The driver, Fredy Chavez Sanchez , 19, was found trapped in the pickup Sunday, June 22, officials said. Venice Police Department photo
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