COCOA BEACH, Fla. – A beach where there are no lifeguards feels even more dangerous to some because there’s no longer life-saving flotation devices there, either.
A couple dozen life rings that were in position to save lives are now put away as a lawsuit plays out over who owns them.
One of those rings was stationed at Fourth Street South where a man and woman drowned last week.
[RELATED: Tourists drown off Cocoa Beach amid dangerous rip currents]
A ring may not have saved their lives, but video shows the rings being used before to rescue swimmers.
Now with the closest lifeguard tower almost a mile away, there isn’t even a chance for someone to grab a ring in an emergency.
“The losers in all of this are the city of Cocoa Beach residents and the tourists,” Drown Zero vice president Scott Widerman told your Cocoa Beach Community Correspondent James Sparvero.
Widerman admitted the spat his group finds itself in could be endangering people going to the beach.
Drown Zero, who through partnerships with Brevard County and the beachside cities, put a couple hundred life rings on beaches from Cape Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet.
[RELATED: Brevard beach ring stations help save lives during stormy weeks]
Most of those beaches don’t have lifeguards, either.
Now, though, Drown Zero’s agreement in Cocoa Beach has expired, and instead of keeping the life-saving collaboration going, the rotary club is suing Drown Zero, arguing Scott’s group stole equipment and donations.
Sparvero also called and emailed the rotary club to get their side of the story.
While no one’s gotten back to him yet, the rotary club has released a statement that said for years the rings were a ‘Rotary-led project’ and since then, Drown Zero has tried to take it over.
“It’s absolutely false,” Widerman responded to the lawsuit’s claims. “Drown Zero started years before the rotary club was even involved. We’ve always owned it all.”
Catherine Walter from Boston said visitors like her family are ultimately suffering over the dispute.
“Yea, exactly, people who are not familiar with these beaches, or the conditions, or what just happened here - the tragedy that happened here,” she said. “We’re completely unprepared.”
A hearing in the lawsuit is coming up on May 1.
Stick with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com to be updated how this public safety issue gets resolved.