Good Samaritans help lift car stuck on wharf
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-City of Santa Barbara Wharf Maintenance workers didn't know what caused damaged to railings on the wharf on Monday morning.
Soon fter they replaced what they call a bull rail near the The Harbor Restaurant and Longboard's Grill building they heard good Samaritans came the rescue of a couple whose car got stuck on Sunday.
Michael Cohen, who owns the Santa Barbara Adventure Company, said he was cycling on the wharf with friends celebrating artist Chris Potter's birthday when they saw a convertible with tires on both sides of the rail.
They quickly jumped into action to help.
"We said Potter's Bike Tour unite. Can we get this thing off of here? And it was like, Yeah, we could do it. So, it felt really good to have a community come together to kind of do a small rescue is what it was," said Cohen.
About a dozen people lifted the car off the railing.
"It was great because we quickly started to work together," said Cohen.
He called it teamwork.
He said other people in the area helped, too.
Workers on the wharf saw the couple thank the group before drive down the wharf to turned around and leave.
Senior maintenance worker David Running with the City of Santa Barbara Waterfront Department said new bull rails are made of plastic.
"We could tell that it was hit by a car just from the scarping." said Running, " and we do have big trucks that park there loading and unloading at the restaurants so They usually hit them and they might flex a little but to have it ripped off is impressive."
They replaced the damaged rail and cleaned up the area this morning.
It is not clear if the driver was going too fast or lost control but locals said it serves as a reminder to drive carefully on the bumpy wood.
David Postada, who frequents Stearns Wharf often, said he has seen a lot of car-related incidents on the wharf.
Postadas said the speed limit posted all over is 10 miles per hour and that with so many people around it is especially important to take it slow.
Wharf maintenance crew members couldn't agree more.
