Overview
- Gia Thomas filed a wrongful-death suit against Riviera Beach, saying firefighter mistakes during a canal rescue caused Heath Thomas’s death.
- The suit says his SUV was floating when crews arrived and that smashing a window and opening a door made it sink.
- An outside 155-page report attached to the filing says rescuers should have first secured the car and pulled it toward the bank.
- The report says firefighters lacked water-rescue training at the time and ties gaps to Assistant Chief Keith Golden, who later got a five-day suspension.
- At a canal news conference, the widow said he was alive on video and blamed failures in leadership and training, while the city declined comment and WPBF learned the department has since begun water-rescue training.