SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — It was a recovery mission hours in the making, with a 55-year-old Florida man who also had a Hampton address that went over the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel Monday morning and plunged into the water.
Several agencies worked together to get the car out of the water in less than ideal conditions. They say not only was a storm brewing, but strong winds and a rough current also played a role in the recovery efforts.
“We knew going out there yesterday morning, as soon as I got on scene, that it was an uphill battle for us,” said Suffolk Police Capt. Jesse Epperson.
Virginia State Police said the victim, Daniel Irrizary of Orlando, Florida, was trying to switch lanes when he struck another vehicle.
The Newport News Fire Department called for mutual aid and several departments, including Suffolk’s dive team, responded.
Epperson, who serves as the team commander, was up on the bridge communicating with dive supervisors and divers in the boat below.
“It’s my job to be overwatch, working with the other jurisdictions as well as making sure that everybody’s operating safely as well,” Epperson said.
Suffolk Police Sgt. Paul Helvestine was in a boat on the water as they worked to recover the vehicle.
“You would think that you could look down and see the vehicle, and that was not the case,” Helvestine said. “We had about a one foot visibility at the time, so we’re operating off of closing your eyes and searching. That’s what that’s what we do.”
Helvestine said Chesapeake Fire’s remotely-operated vehicle was essential in locating the car. He said it took multiple attempts, but ultimately, the Newport News Dive Team hooked the tow straps to it.
He said that, thanks to working relationships and training together under the Marine Incident Response Team, they were able to quickly retrieve the car.
“We were able to work with Newport News Fire Department with their dive team, and, not knowing a single person on their team, we were able to work on the Coast Guard boat, which outside of my people, I’ve never trained with them a day in my life,” Helvestine said.
He also said training for situations like this is key.
“Mentally preparing is properly training,” Helvestine said. “If you’re not properly trained and you [don’t] feel comfortable in your environment, then you’re not going to feel comfortable on a dive operation.”
He said a lot of agencies around here have dive teams because of the location and proximity to the water.
“Every agency around here has large bodies of water,” Helvestine said. “We have one of the largest ports and multiple bridges, tunnels. The dive team is a very valuable asset, as well as our Marine patrol, also.”
“In Suffolk, we deal with different types of diving,” Epperson said. “We dive in what could be a very small retention pond, created because of a new development, existing lakes where a boat with a truck goes into the lake. We’ve got to recover that vehicle. We’ve got to do something as big as a James River.”
Epperson said with strong winds and rough currents, they had to work efficiently, and safely, in their recovery operation.
“Just making sure that we are as effective as we can be,” Epperson said. “So when that time period comes, that we can capitalize on every minute that we have and luckily all that fell in place yesterday perfectly.”
State Police said the crash remains under investigation. They also said there was no structural damage to the bridge-tunnel.
