Lifeguard Drives Over Sunbather's Head

[PARAGON]

<Table>
<H1 class=Headline>Fla. Lifeguard Drives Over Sunbather's Head </H1>
<H2 class=SubHead>Official: Soft Sand Likely Saved Woman</H2>



<DIV class=posted>POSTED: 4:18 pm EST November 15, 2005</DIV>
<DIV class=updated>UPDATED: 2:49 pm EST November 16, 2005</DIV>


</P>
<DIV class=StoryBody>For the second time, a Miami Beach
lifeguard driving a truck has run over a sunbather lying on the beach.


</P>Miami Beach Fire Chief Javier Otero said the 3,400-pound lifeguard truck ran over 19-year-old Jillian Gonzalez's head and shoulder on Sunday. An official said the soft sand likely saved her life because she was able to stand upright after being run over, according to the report.


</P> "I couldn't see it but I knew it was a tire and I could feel the indentations in the tire, and I knew I was being run over," Gonzalez said. And I told him to call 911 and that something in my face was broken and I needed to get to a hospital."


</P>A reporter asked, "Were you crying?"


</P>"I was crying hysterically," Gonzalez said.


</P>"What were you saying?" the reporter asked.


</P>"Get me help, get me to a hospital, my face is broken, my face is
broken," Gonzalez said.


</P>Lifeguard Orlando Artiz drove over an embankment and narrowly missed
Gonzalez's friend Daniel Martinez before running over and crushing an ice chest
and then running over Gonzalez's head.


</P>She was treated at a hospital and released.


</P>A similar incident happened in 2003 when two sisters visiting from France
were run over by a Miami Beach police officer. One of them died and the other
was seriously injured.


</P>After the 2003 incident, rules were established so it would not happen
again.


</P>An investigation Tuesday found Artiz violated the rules by driving about
60 feet east of a line of trash cans.


</P>People were outraged that another incident happened, according to the
report.</DIV></Table>

[PARAGON]

<Table>
<H1 class=Headline>Fla. Lifeguard Drives Over Sunbather's Head </H1>
<H2 class=SubHead>Official: Soft Sand Likely Saved Woman</H2>



<DIV class=posted>POSTED: 4:18 pm EST November 15, 2005</DIV>
<DIV class=updated>UPDATED: 2:49 pm EST November 16, 2005</DIV>


</P>
<DIV class=StoryBody>For the second time, a Miami Beach
lifeguard driving a truck has run over a sunbather lying on the beach.


</P>Miami Beach Fire Chief Javier Otero said the 3,400-pound lifeguard truck ran over 19-year-old Jillian Gonzalez's head and shoulder on Sunday. An official said the soft sand likely saved her life because she was able to stand upright after being run over, according to the report.


</P> "I couldn't see it but I knew it was a tire and I could feel the indentations in the tire, and I knew I was being run over," Gonzalez said. And I told him to call 911 and that something in my face was broken and I needed to get to a hospital."


</P>A reporter asked, "Were you crying?"


</P>"I was crying hysterically," Gonzalez said.


</P>"What were you saying?" the reporter asked.


</P>"Get me help, get me to a hospital, my face is broken, my face is
broken," Gonzalez said.


</P>Lifeguard Orlando Artiz drove over an embankment and narrowly missed
Gonzalez's friend Daniel Martinez before running over and crushing an ice chest
and then running over Gonzalez's head.


</P>She was treated at a hospital and released.


</P>A similar incident happened in 2003 when two sisters visiting from France
were run over by a Miami Beach police officer. One of them died and the other
was seriously injured.


</P>After the 2003 incident, rules were established so it would not happen
again.


</P>An investigation Tuesday found Artiz violated the rules by driving about
60 feet east of a line of trash cans.


</P>People were outraged that another incident happened, according to the
report.</DIV></Table>

[PARAGON]

<Table>
<H1 class=Headline>Woman Lying On Beach Hit By Truck</H1>
<H2 class=SubHead>Officials Continue Investigating Incident</H2>



<DIV class=posted>POSTED: 6:56 pm EST November 15, 2005</DIV>
<DIV class=updated>UPDATED: 9:06 am EST November 16, 2005</DIV>


</P>
<DIV class=StoryBody>< !--startindex--><B class=Dateline>MIAMI BEACH, Fla. --
[/b]A 19-year-old woman said she feels blessed to survive after being hit by a vehicle while sunbathing on a South Florida beach Sunday. Jillian Gonzalez, 19, and her friend, Daniel Martinez, were lying on the beach at South Point Park with a cooler next to their heads when, they said, they heard a vehicle coming close. Gonzalez agreed to talk on-camera to NBC 6 as long as her identity was concealed.


</P>"The next thing you know, I heard a loud sound from the cooler that I had placed over my head, and he was just running over that. So, I turn to my right, and I see her get hit," Martinez said.


</P>"I knew it was a tire. I knew that it was a vehicle on my head, and I felt it running me over and I was just thinking, 'Oh my gosh, when is it going to get off of my head?'" Gonzalez said. "I was screaming. I was crying. I thought the worst."


</P>Officials said the truck was being driven by Miami Beach lifeguard Orlando Artiz, who was just returning from a safety call when, reports show, he ran over Gonzalez's head and shoulder, NBC 6's Sharon Lawson reported.


</P>"This is still being investigated, but it appears he should not have been here and was probably in violation of a safety rule," said Miami Beach Fire Rescue Chief Javier Otero.


</P>The rule was established after a similar incident in 2003, when a Miami Beach police officer ran over two French sisters on Miami Beach, killing one and seriously injuring the other, Lawson reported. The city then required city vehicles to stay west of the garbage cans that separate the soft sand from the hard-packed sand.


</P>Gonzalez said she has been having a hard time sleeping because of her ordeal.


</P>"I'm still in shock. I think I don't really understand the magnitude of what could have been," Gonzalez said.


</P>Gonzalez and Martinez said they are fortunate that they survived, but they said the incident should never have happened.


</P>"It upsets me because it just shows the negligence of the Miami Beach department, the ocean rescue. It just shows their negligence ... He ran me over and he's still not fired," Gonzalez said.


</P>While the investigation is under way, Artiz is on duty but not allowed to drive while on duty.


</P>Gonzalez and her attorney intend to pursue a lawsuit against the party at fault as soon as the investigation is completed, Lawson reported.</DIV></Table>

[HummerNewbie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
Gonzalez agreed to talk on-camera to NBC 6 as long as her identity was concealed.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Saw this on a teaser for the news, she was talking on camera then.

[HIHUMMER]

Plus...tread marks can really give you some ugly tan lines.

[ROX]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HIHUMMER:
Plus...tread marks can really give you some ugly tan lines. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah. What about that?!

[ratesguy]

Folks, she had a friggin cooler over her head. Maybe she should rethink that as beach attire.

[ssgharkness020147]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:

</P>A similar incident happened in 2003 when two sisters visiting from France
were run over by a Miami Beach police officer. One of them died and the other
was seriously injured.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

French tourists' run over in America. I'm sure that was an accident.