Teen killed while riding inner tube pulled by pickup truck near Blue Wahoos Stadium

Pensacola police launched a death investigation over the weekend after a teenager died Saturday on an inner tube that was being pulled by a pickup truck.

Authorities had yet to release the identity of the teenager who died as of Monday afternoon.

Pensacola Police Department spokesman Officer Mike Wood told the News Journal that the incident occurred sometime after 7 p.m. Saturday in a retention pond in front of the Blue Wahoos Stadium near downtown Pensacola.

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The teenager was on an inner tube that was being pulled by a pickup truck when the truck pulled the tube off the bank of the pond, Wood confirmed. The tube traveled onto the pavement located near the pond with the teen still on it.

Wood confirmed that the teenager died when the inner tube struck the pavement.

No charges have been filed in the incident at this time.

But Wood explained that an investigation into the matter remained open and that future criminal charges remained a possibility as detectives continued to determine factors, such as if alcohol was involved.

Wood added that the PPD was working closely with the State Attorney’s Office on the case.

Addressing the incident Monday morning, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson urged citizens to use city parks responsibly.

“I don’t think in a million years we ever anticipated that the pond would be used for something like that,” Robinson said. “And this is the reason we really asked you to use our parks appropriately.”

Robinson ruled out placing a fence around the retention pond, noting the city has made an effort to build more aesthetically pleasing stormwater ponds over the last few years.

“This is why we have to communicate to people: Don’t do things that aren’t intended,” Robinson said. “The park was never intended for that. And when you do something that’s not intended for, there’s certainly the risk that you will have injury and potential fatality.”

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Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at [email protected] or 850-435-8680.

Jim Little contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola teen dies riding inner tube pulled by pickup truck near CMP