iStockphoto / samuel foster
A bartender at Pop’s Sunset Grill in Venice, Florida is being called a hero after he saved a life.
While working at the waterfront tiki bar in Sarasota County, Dominic Yacca (a former Marine) and others witnessed an SUV on the other side of the intracoastal (waterway) drive right through a parking lot, over the sea wall, and into the intracoastal as the tide was ripping in and the SUV started floating toward the Albee Road bridge.
The restaurant shared a note on Facebook praising their bartender for his quick action that led to him saving the driver’s life. And a YouTube channel grabbed security camera footage which shows the moment the SUV went into the water and began to float away before the driver was rescued. Also, I called it a ‘canal’ in th headline when I’m aware it is the intracoastal and not a true canal but ‘intracoastal’ may be confusing for some. First, here is the security camera footage:
After the rescue, Pop’s Sunset Grill shared this message on Facebook praising their bartender for his quick thinking and action that led to a life being saved:
The full caption reads:
Not all heroes wear capes! We are so proud of our bartender, Dominic, who didn’t hesitate to jump into action when a vehicle drove into the ICW last night.
Dominic was bartending at the Pop’s Tiki Bar, ran to his car and drove to the scene. He jumped into the water with a police baton and managed to break the window to save the driver.
It’s not often that we get to see such selflessness in action, and it’s a reminder that heroism can come from anyone, anywhere. We should all take a moment to appreciate those who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. It takes a special kind of person to act on their instincts like that, and we should be grateful for each and every one of them ❤️
This is an area I grew up fishing multiple days a week with my dad. And Pop’s Sunset Grill in Venice is a restaurant we’d go to as a family when I was a little kid. So I’m extremely familiar with this area. I atre there just a few weeks ago with my own family. And it blows my mind that this SUV would go over the seawall there as the parking lot on that West side of the intracoastal is pretty narrow and it’s not as if the SUV could be moving fast.
Google Maps
That is the view from Google Maps. As you can see, the parking lot on the left is quite tiny. It’s often used for people fishing there as a ton of water gets sucked in and out of the nearby Venice Jetty’s making this a great fishing spot at certain times of the year.
It’s also often used as overflow parking for the beach across the street. So not oly is the parking lot small, it’s also a busy area this time of year with snow birds flocking to Florida for the holidays and Winter.