Sightseer killed when Milwaukee drawbridge opens while he’s crossing it

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A vacationer in Milwaukee fell to his death after a drawbridge was raised while he was walking across it.

Richard Dujardin, 77, of Providence, Rhode Island, was walking with his wife, Rosemarie, in downtown Milwaukee around 12:30 p.m. Monday. She was ahead of him on the 75-yard-long Kilbourn Avenue Bridge, which spans the Milwaukee River, when the roadway started to tilt, according to a Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office report.

Rosemarie Dujardin made it across the bridge; her husband was about halfway across when the gap started to open. He grabbed a side rail as the bridge sections rose to near-vertical, and reportedly held on for one or two minutes, but then lost his grip and fell about 70 feet to the pavement below, the report states.

He suffered a head wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, investigators said.

The bridge is controlled by the city’s Department of Public Works and its two halves are raised and lowered for boat traffic by someone working remotely — about 1½ miles away — who has two camera views of the span.

The lights and bells were operating as the two sections were raised, and crossing arms came down at each end of the bridge, according to investigators.

Rosemarie Dujardin told investigators that her husband was hard of hearing and wore glasses. The medical examiner’s report said he was looking at an iPad while walking.

Police said in a statement that there is no suspicion of a criminal act, but that the investigation continues. Authorities didn’t release the name of the person who was operating the bridge Monday afternoon. That person, who has four years of experience, was placed on leave.

Dujardin’s family told TV station WISN that he was a father of six, a grandfather, and retired from the Providence Journal, where he wrote about religion. At the time he died, he and his wife were on their way to visit Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

In another drawbridge death this year, a woman in Palm Beach, Fla., suffered a fatal fall in February when the roadway was raised while she was walking her bike across a bridge. In that case, the bridgetender — who was in an observation tower at the site — was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by culpable negligence. Investigators allege she failed to follow the protocol of stepping out on the balcony to check traffic before opening the bridge.

Source: Orange County Register