Swing bridge closure extended

The swing bridge connecting the Riverside Park and Sailboat Bend neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale will remain closed through the end of December because of a delay in making repairs, city officials said.

The Southwest 11th Avenue Swing Bridge needs a new lock motor, which keeps the bridge closed when cars cross it. The bridge was expected to open Dec. 1 but the city is having difficulty finding a vendor to make the part.

“Replacing the lock motor is a complex process because, due to the age and unique structure of the swing bridge, the mechanism needs to be custombuilt to meet its specifications,” said city spokeswoman he thought was a real bomb that would be detonated. In fact, it was a fake device — made by the FBI — that would not explode.

Medina is a U.S. citizen who was raised Pentecostal Christian and converted to Islam after a difficult divorce some years ago. Court records show he has a long history of mental health problems, including several commitments for treatment in psychiatric hospitals.

Medina spoke briefly during his sentencing on Tuesday in federal court in Miami.

“I just need help. I need help, Your Honor. You know I lost everything,” Medina said.

He said he converted and became a Muslim several years ago, thinking that would help him overcome a difficult divorce and have visitation with his children.

“I lost my mind, I lashed out,” Medina said, in what appeared to be a reference to his planned attack on the Angela Sabina.

The city has not indicated how close it is to finding a vendor. Broward Boulevard at Southwest 18th Avenue and Davie Boulevard at Southwest 15th Avenue can be used as alternate routes to the areas typically accessed by the swing bridge.

Businesses in the area are also feeling the sting of the closure.

synagogue.

The legal case against Medina stalled for several months while experts evaluated his mental health.

After an extensive investigation by the defense team, Medina’s attorneys said they did not think there was sufficient evidence to persuade a judge and jury that Medina had been entrapped or coerced by the undercover FBI sting.

If Medina had gone to trial and been convicted, he could have faced life in prison.

Judge Scola said Medina had committed a “very, very serious offense” that could have resulted in many deaths and injuries if the FBI had not intervened. But the judge said that, after considering all of the evidence and factors involved, he agreed with the prosecution and defense’s joint recommendation.

Technically, Scola sentenced Medina to life in prison but made it clear that his intent is that Medina will ultimately serve a maximum of 25 years behind bars.

Assistant Federal Public

Marcos Cabrera, a storekeeper at Craft Beer Cartel, whose owners run The Riverside Market Cafe just down the street, said the beer and home brewing store had to cut hours because of the bridge closure, which they posted on their Instagram page.

“We’re pretty sad about it. The business is pretty low compared to normal,” Cabrera

pmcmahon@ sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4533 or Twitter @SentinelPaula said. “I feel like [the city] should have had a part ready.”

Detour signs are posted in the area but navigating them still feels like a “huge maze,” Cabrera said. He said customers unaware of the bridge closure have called trying to get directions but some just head home instead of taking the longer drive.

“Everyone is really frustrated, especially all the local people who go out that way,” he said. “I know people who work at Riverside who used to walk but now have to take an Uber to get to their job.”

Formally opened as the Snow-Reed Swing Bridge in 1925, the bridge, one of the oldest in Broward County, is named after the two Fort Lauderdale mayors who held office while it was being built.

The last major renovation, in 2010, closed the bridge for a year.

Defenders Hector Dopico and Eric Cohen said they had presented a lot of evidence about Medina’s medical conditions to help persuade prosecutors that the plea agreement and recommended punishment would be appropriate.

The FBI began an undercover investigation of Medina in March 2016 after a tipster, who has not been publicly identified, told agents that Medina was planning to shoot people in a synagogue. Agents testified they steered him away from the shooting during the undercover sting, because it would be harder to control his access to firearms.

The brain cyst, which was first discovered in 2007 after Medina suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident, has continued to grow and may require surgery, medical experts said.