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Fla. lifeguard who hit sunbather lacked training

Official said that 21-year-old Thomas Moderie was given a driving-safety manual but didn’t take the 16-hour beach-driving course

Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Officials say a lifeguard who ran over a sunbather while driving a Beach Patrol pickup truck along Daytona Beach did not take a required driving course.

Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron said on Monday that 21-year-old Thomas Moderie was given a driving-safety manual but didn’t take the 16-hour beach-driving course.

Florida Highway Patrol reports 33-year-old Erin Michelle Joynt, of Wichita, Kan., was sunbathing Sunday morning when she was run over. She was in stable condition at a hospital Monday.

Byron says Moderie was headed to investigate broken glass on the shore when he struck Joynt. A voice mail message left at a number for Moderie was not immediately returned.

This is the third time in the last year a Volusia County beach employee has run over a sunbather.