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Truck rolls into water at Matlacha boat ramp

Posted at 2:53 PM, Mar 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-21 09:28:28-04

LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- One Southwest Florida paddler learned a tough lesson about how not to launch a kayak Monday.

A tow company had to get a little creative in order to pull the Toyota truck out of the water at the boat ramp in Matlacha Community Park.

They had to do so with an audience watching them work.  "Gave them some action something to see," said one of the towers from A Budget Towing.

Nick Maniates ran out the door with his dog, Timmy after he saw Fox 4's Facebook live Monday afternoon. "I was at home on Facebook and I saw that there was a truck in the water and figured I'd check it out. I live pretty close," said Nick, who also went live for his friends.

Others followed Nick's lead and pulled out their phones as the truck was being pulled out. "I got a little video as we were cruising by to go on my Facebook page," said Troy Leming, who saw all the action as he was coming to shore on his boat.

Some people were inspired by Toyota's 'moving forward' slogan and came up with a few captions of their own.

"It's not the way you want to wash your car," said Nick.

"I have seen a lot of kayaks, but I have never seen a guy put a kayak like this guy did," said

But moving forward they suggest the boat ramp isn't a good spot to launch your kayaks. "The kayak launching ramp is over on the other side," said Leming.

Even though the truck was banged up, everyone that watched was thankful the family wasn't hurt. "That's the only good thing about that. I think the car is totaled," said Peter Loranzano, who was visiting from Boston.

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