WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A Florida bridge tender has been arrested for manslaughter, one month after a 79-year-old woman fell to her death from a drawbridge that began rising while she was still walking on it.West Palm Beach Police said they arrested 43-year-old Artissua Lafay Paulk at her home Thursday afternoon with the assistance of US Marshals, after obtaining an arrest warrant two days earlier, which said surveillance video and deleted text messages between Paulk and her supervisor showed she lied in her statement to police.Paulk's arrest stems from the Feb.
6 incident, where 79-year-old grandmother Carol Wright fell to her death from the Royal Park Bridge.Wright was not identified by authorities due to Marsy's Law, but her identity was released by Attorney Lance Ivey, who represents Wright's family, WPTV reports.RELATED: Florida drawbridge death: 79-year-old victim's family attorney says bridge tender was 'negligent'According to Ivey, Wright had taken her bicycle for a ride to a book shop in Palm Beach and was returning home when she began crossing the bridge."She legally and lawfully gets on the bridge.
And without any expectation, unbeknownst to her, the bridge tender pushes the button that would ultimately turn out to be a slow, mental, and physical death sentence for Carol," Ivey said.Police said she was within 10 feet of the barrier arms that halt traffic when the drawbridge began to open."The woman tried to hang on.
There was a bystander nearby who tried to help her, but tragically she fell five or six stories below where she died landing on concrete," West Palm Beach police spokesman Mike Jachles said.RELATED: Police identify victim who fell to her death from Florida drawbridge as 79-year-old womanPolice said.