TAMPA — A Florida wildlife officer who helped save three jet skiers over the weekend died when he rode his bike into a downed power line Wednesday.
Gregory Patterson, 47, was riding on a popular Tampa Bay area path about 6:40 a.m. when he contacted the power line and was electrocuted.
Tampa Electric Co. said the line along the Courtney Campbell Causeway may have fallen down hours earlier because of severe weather in the area overnight.
“Sometimes when down, it sparks and arcs and makes noise, but a lot of times it doesn’t. It looks just like a wire,” Cherie Jacobs, TECO spokeswoman.
And because it was still dark outside, Patterson may have not noticed the line.
“It’s terrible. I could not even imagine,” said Todd Winters, another cyclist.
Tampa Electric said it was unaware the line had come down. “In this case, the only outage that was caused by line being down was lights on Courtney Campbell Causeway. No residents, no businesses were without power. We were not getting power outages from this line down. First time we were notified was from the fire department,” Jacobs said.
But the Tampa Bay Times reported that a manager of nearby Whiskey Joe's Bar & Grill called the utility at 10:50 p.m. Tuesday to report a partial outage.
Jacobs said the incident is still under investigation.
Patterson joined the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2011 after serving in the Navy. He graduated from the training academy Class in 2012 and started work in Highlands County. He transferred to Hillsborough County in 2013.
Exercise was his morning ritual, FWC Maj. Roger Young told the Times Wednesday.
"He was a very avid physical fitness activist," Young said. "He was in outstanding shape."
FWC said Patterson, a father of two, helped save three jet skiers over the weekend and it was nominating him for a lifesaver award. Patterson won a FWC Lifesaving Award in 2014 after rescuing an exhausted kayaker being swept out to sea.
“Our entire FWC family is in mourning for Greg. We will never forget his service and sacrifice, and can never repay that debt to his family. He was a true public servant at heart, and we will miss him deeply,” said Col. Curtis Brown, FWC Division of Law Enforcement.
Follow Jennifer Titus on Twitter: @jennititus10
