Updated Nov. 16, 2020 – BRADENTON BEACH – Longtime Island resident Mark Mixon died Wednesday evening from an accidental electrical shock he received during Tropical Storm Eta.
According to Det. Sgt. Lenard Diaz, of the Bradenton Beach Police Department, the fatal accident occurred at a home Mixon was working on at 211 Bay Drive N. The police department received the dispatch call at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“The Fire Department and EMS were there. When we got there, a guy came running up to us and said his friend just got electrocuted,” Diaz said that evening.
According to Diaz, Mixon was placing sandbags around the bayside of the Bradenton Beach home before the accident occurred.
“He went inside his storage room, which is part of the house and on the ground, and there were approximately 3 inches of water inside the storage room. When he walked inside, he didn’t realize he had an appliance still connected to electricity. He walked inside and he was electrocuted because the appliance was partially in the water,” Diaz said.
Diaz said the storage area contained a washer and dryer and some tools. He later said he believed the dryer to be the source of the electrical shock.
Diaz said Mixon’s friend tried to pull Mixon out of the storage area, but he felt electricity surging through the water and discontinued those efforts and called 911.
“When we got there, we couldn’t walk in until the electricity got turned off, which took approximately 30 minutes. We then brought him out and checked his vital signs and he was deceased,” Diaz said.
When contacted that evening, Manatee County Public Safety Director Jake Saur provided some additional details. He said Manatee County EMS was among those who responded to the 911 call.
“Our 911 center called FPL. This was the first time in my 20 years we’ve had to call FPL and ask them to de-energize a portion of the county. That takes a lot to do and they asked us if we’re sure we want to do this because we could take out power to a lot of other critical things. We’ve never really done that before, but we did it in this case so we could get into that home,” Saur said.
Around that same time, several Bradenton Beach residents noted on Facebook that they had lost power.
When contacted that evening, West Manatee Fire Rescue Chief Ben Rigney confirmed the electrocution. Rigney did not provide the victim’s name but did say the victim’s next of kin was notified of the accident.
“The next of kin was on scene,” Rigney said.
“They had an electrocution. It came in at approximately 5:35 today. Our responders went there. When they first walked in they felt a little tingle so they had to back away until they got FPL out there,” Rigney said.
“They were unable to access the patient due to the power still being on. They had to wait for FPL to secure power to the area before going in to check on the patient and he was confirmed DOA (dead on arrival),” Rigney said.
Rigney said this was the first time he was aware of a significant portion of the power grid being turned off in response to an emergency call.
Several years ago, Mixon took over operations of Jim Mixon Insurance Inc., the family-operated, Holmes Beach-based insurance agency founded by his father, Jim. After the agency was sold, it was renamed Waller-Mixon Insurance.
Holmes Beach resident and County Commissioner Carol Whitmore knew Mixon well.
“I’ve known Mark since the 70s or 80s. He grew up in Holmes Beach. He used to be my neighbor on 84th Street for many years before he moved to Bradenton Beach. Mark was a very quiet man and he helped his parents with Mixon Insurance. He was a very hard worker. He took pride in succeeding his parents in the family business and carrying on the family legacy. I know more people than I can count in Manatee County and on the Island who got their insurance from Mark. After they sold the business, I heard he stayed busy repairing and remodeling houses,” Whitmore said.
Patrick Shomo owns the property at 209 Bay Drive N., next door to the scene of the accident. He also spoke kindly of Mixon.
“Nobody lived there. Mark told me it was his personal project house and he’d been working on it mostly alone,” Shomo said.
“Mark was good people and has been nice to my family since we became neighbors in October. He hit it off with my wife and kids and talked to my 9-year-old son about fishing, always letting him chase a lost lure onto his property. We are all sorry to see him gone. He was also my insurance agent for years. The Island lost a good man,” Shomo said.
Holmes Beach resident Margie Motzer said, “We were so sad to hear about Mark. He was such a nice guy and he will be sorely missed.”
Holmes Beach resident Scott Moore said, “Mark was a great guy. He was a really nice guy and everybody on the Island liked Mark.”
Moore’s daughter and longtime Island resident Kelly Moore Hunt said, “It’s so tragic. Mark was such a good person. I have his smiling face in my head. When we were children, we used to stay at his house all the time. He was so welcoming to all the kids and he treated us like a second dad. I ran into him about a year ago and he said if you need anything you come to me. He was the most loving, caring human and he was always there for his friends. He grew up on the Island and he was all about Anna Maria Island.”
