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Man thrown face first over Daytona Beach bridge after argument, police say

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona Beach police said they arrested a man for throwing another man head-first off the Main Street Bridge.

Police said an officer was driving over the bridge Sunday around 4:45 p.m. and witnessed Derrick Goodin, 21, in a fist fight with another man. Goodin threw a bike over the bridge into the Halifax River, followed by a man, police said.

The officer ordered Goodin to the ground, police said. The officer said Goodin initially sat on the curb, but then stood, reached into his pocket and threw what could be a wallet into the water below.

Meanwhile, the victim landed in the water below and was picked up by someone in a rowboat.

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The man told police said he was trying to defend a woman Goodin had approached just moments earlier. The suspect and the woman were arguing about a prior money exchange, police said, before Goodin struck the woman in the face.

Police estimated the distance from the bridge to the water below to be around 30 feet. There are concrete pylons in the water that the man could have hit that could have resulted in serious injury, police said.

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"He only had a gash over his eye, which is very fortunate for that kind of incident," said Lyda Longa from the Daytona Beach police department.

The man who landed in the water refused medical attention and did not want to press charges, police said.

Goodin was arrested on battery and disorderly conduct charges.

Police also said the incident was captured on surveillance video, but officers have not released it to the public.

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