Photo Credit - Austin Joe Kortens
The Manitowoc Police Department released the incident report for an unusual incident on the 10th Street Bridge on October 4th.
Just before 10:00 that morning, an officer was dispatched to the bridge for the report of a disabled vehicle on the span while it was being lifted.
When he arrived, he noted the bridge was already down and traffic was operating normally, but, a short time later, social media erupted with pictures of a blue truck, standing almost vertical, on the 10th Street bridge.
Reviewing video footage back at the police department, the officer determined a 2012 Chevrolet Colorado was involved, it later drove away and didn’t appear to be damaged.
Police spoke with the bridge tender who stated he was performing a lift for a boat on the Manitowoc River and in doing so, observed a white car in the traffic way between the bridge’s Traffic Arms.
He explained the car remained stationary, but eventually backed up past the hinge point on the bridge and onto a non-lifting portion of the span.
The bridge tender, who was in the 8th Street Bridge Tender’s Tower, stated he didn’t see the truck and believed it may have blended in with the mural on the 10th Street tower.
The following day, the officer talked with the driver of the blue truck who informed him that he was heading out of town for a trip to Door County when he reached the bridge.
The motorist saw the traffic arm on the northside drop and the bridge started to lift with him on it.
He tried to think of what to do, but ultimately applied and held the brakes as the bridge went up.
After the span was lowered, he was able to continue on his way, following a damage check of his truck.
The officer concluded there was very minor damage to the vehicle and no city property was damaged as a result of the incident.
