Man stuck in elevator for more than an hour calls boss instead of 911

ST. PETERSBURG - A man spent more than two hours waiting to be rescued from an elevator Thursday.

But the delay wasn't because of a lack of response by emergency officials.

The man, it turns out, didn't think to call 911 when he got stuck at about 10 a.m. between the fifth and sixth floors at Bridgeton North condominiums, 7100 Sunshine Skyway Lane S, said Lt. Joel Granata of St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue.

Instead, authorities said, Kendrick Johnson, 32, called his boss from his cell phone.

The boss, Beverly Ruiz, was in her car at the time. Ruiz drove to the nearby Lake Maggiore fire station and got help at about 11:15 a.m.

The department's tactical rescue team was assembled on scene by 11:40 a.m., Granata said. The crew shut down the power and used tools to pry the elevator doors open. Johnson was out minutes before 12:30 p.m.

Johnson, who is the condo maintenance man, was uninjured.

"I asked him what he was doing in there," Granata said. "He said, 'talking on the phone.'"

Johnson told his rescuers that next time, he'd just call 911 first to avoid spending so much time stuck in an elevator.

Granata said the fire department has responded to 126 elevator rescues so far this year.