Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Deputy Richard Bennett hero

August 24, 2008
Clearwater sisters injured when water scooter explodes
CLEARWATER - Two teenage sisters were injured Sunday when their personal watercraft suddenly exploded in the Intracoastal Waterway north of the Memorial Causeway.

Tiffany M. Davis, 16, was piloting the 1999 Polaris water craft, and her sister Heather N. Davis, 19, was riding as a passenger when the explosion occured at 12:30 p.m.

The sisters, both of Clearwater, had been stopped by Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Deputy Richard Bennett near the Seminole Boat Ramp because they were not wearing life jackets.

Bennett ticketed the young women and directed them back to the boat ramp because neither had boater identification cards with them. The deputy started to leave, but returned when he saw one teenager was having trouble restarting the engine.

As Bennett grabbed the handle bar to steady the craft, it exploded, sending the young women into the water. Bennett pulled them aboard his patrol boat and took them to the nearby boat ramp, where they were met by paramedics.

The sisters were taken by ambulance to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, where they were treated for injuries called not life-threatening.

Bennett was not injured. The deputy’s “quick actions likely prevented a tragedy,” said Sgt. Dwayne Somers, sheriff's office Marine Enforcement Unit supervisor, in a statement.

The vesse burned and later sank. An investigation is ongoing.

- Rita Farlow, Times staff writer
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/08/clearwater-sist.html