Spring breaker falls from balcony

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Police responded to the first balcony fall of the Spring Break season Tuesday night after a 21-year-old Ohio man suffered some cuts and bruises after tumbling three stories.

“Fortunately for his survival, he broke his fall,” Maj. David Humphreys said. “His injuries were not life threatening.”

Security guards told police they had asked the spring breaker and his two friends, also 21 and also from Ohio, to leave Laketown Wharf, at 9851 S. Thomas Drive.

The men were trying to sneak back onto the property, just after 11 p.m., by climbing from the parking garage to a third-floor balcony, according to a Panama City Beach Police report.

There was a 4-foot gap between the parking garage and the hotel, into which the young man fell.

“He made attempts to grab the building when he was falling and bounced between the two structures,” the officer wrote. “He landed on his feet at the bottom and then fell to the ground.”

The vacationer had cuts on his head, arms and body, as well as a sprained ankle. The cuts on his head required staples, police reported.

Although there were no fatal balcony falls last year, a 56-year-old woman died in 2008 after falling six stories and, in 2006, a 34-year-old man fell eight stories to his death.