ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 4 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a man fell 30 feet into Tampa Bay while he was attempting to change a tire on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

The St. Petersburg Police Department said Reginald White, 43, of Bradenton, was driving a sport-utility vehicle Sunday night with two passengers when a tire blew out on the bridge around 9:20 p.m.


Police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez said White was attempting to change the tire and tripped over the thigh-high wall when he walked backward to avoid traffic.

White suffered only minor injuries in his fall and was able to cling to a piling until he was fished out of Tampa Bay by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission crew. He was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg for treatment.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.