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crazy wannabe jumpers |
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| 09.18.08 |
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09.19.08, Bill E., Riverview, Fl., Deputy coaxes Skyway jumper to safety St. Petersburg Times©, ST. PETERSBURG -- Tuesday night, it seems Aaron Poindexter was ready to give up. He had had a fight with his girlfriend, no home, no money and no job. And at around 8 p.m., he had a cinder block tied to his leg, positioned on the rail near the Sunshine Skyway's north pier. Someone spotted him and called police. Deputy Christopher Parkins talked to the man and convinced him not to jump, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Poindexter was taken into protective custody and transported to a local mental health facility for evaluation. Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer |
| 08.15.08 |
| 08.15.08, Mike S., New Port Richey, FL., (08.15.08, 12:15pm, male, was stopped from jumping), I was driving south bound on the skyway bridge around 12:12 PM and I noticed an older red pick up truck with the hazard lights on, pulled over to the emergency lane. I immediately thought this may be a jumper. Sure enough as I passed the truck, I saw a man with his right leg over the wall and he was doing the sign of the cross. I continued to drive while looking in the review mirror and the man never jumped. I didn’t think he would jump. He was only half way up the bridge. My first thought was that, if he did jump, he probably would survive. I felt he was crying out for help with this false attempt at suicide. The man seemed to be in his late 30’s and was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, as if he had just come from the gym. He was white, thin, dark hair. |
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08.15.08, tampabay.com, Highway Patrol prevents suicide attempt on Skyway bridge Traffic on one southbound lane of the Sunshine Skyway bridge was shut down for about 20 minutes this afternoon while the Florida Highway Patrol responded to a man's suicide attempt. The man had parked his red GMC pickup truck and was sitting on the wall shortly after noon. Troopers had him in custody by 12:30 p.m., said FHP spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins. The man was "contemplating suicide by jumping off the bridge," Gaskins said. --Mariana Minaya, Times staff writer. (any more info is welcome.) |
| 01.13.07 |
| 01.20.07, Jane D., wimauma, fl., (01.13.07, ?pm, male, was stopped from jumping), The bluffer is from wimauma. hillsborough sheriffs office only listed [0279 01/13/07 MENTALLY ILL PER 0209 0409 07025129] not sure if you can get a copy of the report, but I heard the guy went missing, the family reported it because he had been talking crazy, and the next thing they knew, the police were calling saying they found him out of his car at the top of the skyway. He didn't jump. It was late night, not sure of time. Maybe you can find more info...(thank you, jane. any more info is welcome.) |
| 10.11.05 |
| thank you, jumpnews
contributors: 10.11.05, Jeff G., Tierra Verde, FL., (10.11.05, 12:45pm, male) Was driving from Bradenton back to Tierra Verde. Noticed state trooper in median talking to older man at the top of skyway. Man's big black truck parked at the top of skyway. Must have been a jumper because after we passed him the tolls were shut down and police and fire were going up skyway. That's all I know. 10.11.05, amy, Holiday, FL., (10.11.05, 12pm) I heard on the radio that there were cops at the top of the bridge and that there was a possible jumper 10.11.05, Steve, Saint Petersburg, FL., (10.11.05, 12:45 pm, male, was stopped from jumping) The possible jumper had forced at first the closer of the south bound lanes. after some time the trooper who at first was the only person there saw that the jumper was armed with a handgun. Which then ordered the closer of the intire bridge. The north bound lanes were closed for exactly 12 minutes durring which time backup that the trooper requested had arived. several officers were able to distract the man which allowed an officer who was hidden from the man's view was able to tackle the would be jumper thus ending the situation. 10.13.05, Milton K., Tampa, FL., (10.11.05, 12:26pm, male, no phones, was stopped from jumping) What Steve said is true, FHP Trooper Cole tackled him while he had his back turned and was talking to a Deputy. It was pretty cool to watch. The man jumped out of a taxi at the top. He was reportedly armed, but turned out he lied. (any more info is welcome.) |
| 10.12.05, ©
St. Petersburg Times, Troopers prevent suicide
on Sunshine Skyway ST. PETERSBURG - Sunshine Skyway bridge traffic was stymied for about 10 minutes Tuesday afternoon as state troopers rescued a man who threatened to jump to his death. The man asked a taxi driver to stop on the bridge, got out and went to the southbound side. Florida Highway Patrol trooper Charles Edwards, working a suicide prevention shift, saw the man about 12:45 p.m. and kept him occupied while another trooper, Dan Cole, crept up behind him and tackled him. The man was taken to a local hospital and put in custody under the state's Baker Act. "The guys did a phenomenal job," said Trooper Larry Coggins, a Highway Patrol spokesman who watched the takedown via video monitor. |
| 05.01.05 |
| Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office: 05/01/05 SUICIDE ATT-INPR 2501 1SKYWAY BG 1502 05/01/05 ASSIST OTHER AGN 2501 1SKYWAY BG 1607 |
| 05.02.05, ©
St. Petersburg Times, Man dies after jumping from Skyway bridge TAMPA - A man died Sunday afternoon after he leapt from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies said. The man, whose identity has not been released, jumped from the bridge's center span at 3:53 p.m., deputies said. Twelve minutes later, in what appears to be an unrelated incident, a woman attempted to jump from the southbound lane near the top of the Skyway, Florida Highway Patrol officers said. That attempt was thwarted by a trooper. The woman, whose identity was not released, was taken into custody under the state Baker Act. |
| 07.06.04: child abuser saved. good work, boys. |
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Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office: Michael Vincent, 37 dob 2-21-67, Clearwater, Florida, Individual on Skyway Bridge, July 6, 2004 at 5:10 pm, Center Span, Skyway Bridge, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responded to the center span of the Skyway Bridge at the request of the Florida Highway Patrol, reference an individual that was sitting on the bridge. Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response and Crisis Management Teams responded to make contact with the individual. The southbound lane of the Skyway Bridge was closed and one lane of northbound traffic was closed during the negotiations. Michael Vincent was taken into custody at approximately 9:30 p.m. and referred for counseling. |
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07.07.04, © St. Petersburg Times;
ST. PETERSBURG - Michael Geraci passed the toll booth on the Sunshine Skyway bridge about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, headed home for spaghetti and meatballs. Instead, he and thousands of drivers were stuck in traffic for nearly four hours until Hillsborough sheriff's deputies were able to coax a suicidal man off the bridge. "This is horrible," Geraci said about 9:30 p.m. "There are elderly people out here, stuck in the 90-degree heat." Thousands of people jammed telephone lines at the Florida Highway Patrol, angry about Hillsborough deputies' decision to close down most lanes of traffic to deal with the potential jumper. People were sweaty, hungry and thirsty, and dozens began walking toward a rest area on the bridge to use the restroom, Geraci said. Men climbed on top of pickups, trying to catch a glimpse of activity on the bridge. "No one came to help, to give water, or even to tell us what was happening," Geraci said. "That's the most disheartening part of this whole ordeal." Hillsborough deputies shut down traffic on the Skyway shortly after 5 p.m. when a man threatened to plunge 197 feet off the southbound side of the bridge into Tampa Bay. He was taken into custody about 9:15 p.m. and referred to counselors. But during the drama, all southbound lanes were shut down about 31/2 hours, and one northbound lane was closed, said Debbie Carter, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The FHP was not happy about closing so many lanes of traffic. "It's absolutely a fiasco out there," said FHP spokesman Larry Coggins. "That's why we didn't want the bridge closed." Several law enforcement agencies share jurisdiction of the bridge. Hillsborough County is responsible for the center span, but the FHP also patrols the road. Coggins said lane closures backed up traffic to Interstate 75 in Manatee County and to 54th Avenue S in Pinellas County. Since the FHP began its suicide patrol in 2000, troopers have saved 46 people without causing such delays, Coggins said. The incident was coming to a close as Mike McClatchy drove north over the bridge from Sarasota to Pinellas County. He looked over to the other side and saw at least a dozen patrol cruisers, lights flashing. He saw a man standing with his back to the bridge and thought he looked relaxed. About 30 or 50 feet away, a sniper was pointing a rifle at the man, McClatchy said. Additionally, a number of officers wearing ski masks were hiding strategically on the bridge, holding rifles, McClatchy said. "It looked like they were getting ready to take the guy out." Carter, of the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office, said the agency sent its crisis management team. She said officers closed the bridge to negotiate with the man, and also to ensure that he wouldn't run in front of a moving vehicle. She said deputies needed weapons because they didn't know if the man was armed. He was not, deputies later discovered. Officers knew shutting down the bridge around 5 p.m. would create a "logistical nightmare," Carter said, but didn't feel they had a choice. "You're trying to convince an individual to remove themselves from the bridge," she said. "You can't put a time frame on that." |
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07.08.04, © St. Petersburg Times;
Official unapologetic for closing Skyway, BRADY DENNIS Hillsborough Sheriff's Maj. Gary Terry is the man behind the decision that left thousands of motorists sweltering Tuesday in summer gridlock on both sides of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. And he's not sorry in the least. It was the right thing to do, he said, regardless of the inconvenience. "We had a job to do," he said. Every driver stuck in the four-hour traffic jam, every restless child, every homesick office worker, every thirsty, starving, sweaty soul - they might not have known his name, but they were cursing him. A man atop the Sunshine Skyway bridge was threatening suicide just after 5 p.m. Nearly 30 miles away, at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office special operations division, Terry was getting updates from crisis workers on scene. He gave the order to close both southbound lanes and one northbound lane. The road didn't reopen until after 9:15 p.m. Thousands of motorists sat idle in the Florida heat for nearly four hours, a line of anger and frayed nerves stretching from Interstate 75 in Manatee County to 54th Avenue S in Pinellas County. A Florida Highway Patrol official called the shutdown "a fiasco." People flooded phone lines and e-mail accounts with complaints. A day later, Terry was sympathetic but unmoved. "We did save a life last night," he said. He said he understands the inconvenience that closing the bridge caused. He knows thousands of people were irate. But at least one woman was not. "The mother of the gentleman threatening to commit suicide," he said, "was eternally grateful." Most potential jumpers arrive at night, when traffic is sparse. Tuesday was different. A 37-year-old Clearwater man threatened to take the 197-foot plunge during rush hour. When the FHP trooper stationed on the bridge had no luck talking him down, he called the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office to ask for a negotiator. Several state and local agencies share jurisdiction of the bridge. Hillsborough County is responsible for the center span and the shipping channel below. The department's emergency response team and crisis management team arrived and began negotiating with the man. That's when Terry made the call to close the bridge. "We were having traffic come by and hollering taunts, like 'Jump!' and 'Go ahead and kill yourself!' " he said. "All you need is something like that to push a person over the edge." Terry also said he didn't want cars passing by in case the man tried to harm himself, other drivers or sheriff's deputies by running into traffic. And he said deputies weren't sure at first whether the man was armed (he wasn't), so he had snipers with rifles and ski masks stationed in the area, a move FHP officials said is uncommon but one the Sheriff's Office insists is standard protocol. FHP officials, like many of the idle drivers, showed irritation. They said they saw no reason to close the bridge. The FHP has stationed a round-the-clock trooper on the bridge since 2000 to monitor for potential suicides. In that time, troopers have saved 46 lives, "and we've never closed the bridge down to do that," said Trooper Larry Coggins. Coggins also said that the FHP, along with the Florida Department of Transportation and the St. Petersburg Police Department, bore the "undue hardship" of Tuesday's incident. "We're the ones that fielded the heat from the public," Coggins said. "It's been a siege of phone calls and e-mails." Terry hinted that it would have been irresponsible not to close the bridge. "It's a very volatile situation," he said. "You spend whatever time you have to spend. You can't rush it because it's 5 o'clock traffic." Officials at both the FHP and the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that they will meet soon to discuss how to handle similar Skyway situations better in the future. "I don't know what's going to come out of this," Coggins said. "But I'm sure something will." The man poised to jump Tuesday was Michael Vincent, 37, who made news in April after his arrest on an aggravated child abuse charge. Pinellas County sheriff's detectives said Vincent shook his 3-month- old son because the baby would not stop crying. The boy wound up in a coma. Vincent was released from jail on April 8, but he was accused of violating a court order by contacting his wife later that month. He was jailed again on $100,000 bail, which he posted on April 14. After meeting with his attorney Tuesday to discuss his son's medical condition, Vincent apparently headed to the Skyway. He tried to call his wife from the bridge, again violating the court order, said his attorney, Jay Hebert. Upon learning that Vincent was threatening to jump, Hebert called the FHP and offered information about his client. He tried to drive to the bridge to help but couldn't get there because of the traffic jam. Vincent eventually was talked down from the bridge and taken for counseling. A judge on Wednesday issued a warrant for his arrest for violating the no-contact order a second time. Vincent was being held at the Orient Road Jail, awaiting extradition to Pinellas County, Hebert said. Hebert said Vincent is a 9-year U.S. Army veteran who served in the Gulf War. He works as a commercial diver. Terry arrived at work Tuesday about 7:30 a.m., so he was set to go home around rush hour, like thousands of others motorists. But then the potential jumper call came, and the negotiations wore on. Soon it was past 10 p.m. He was stuck, just like the drivers he had stranded. When he got home, he couldn't go straight to bed. The man who caused the traffic jam turned on his computer, pulled up the Internet and relaxed by reading about an upcoming FBI conference in Destin. ANGRY E-MAILS Local law enforcement agencies weren't the only places receiving angry e-mails about the closing of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. Below, a sampling of those sent to the St. Petersburg Times: "I was stuck in that nightmare yesterday evening. It is an absolute joke that they inconvenienced that many people for a potential jumper. . . . The fact that sooo many resources were called out for one man is deplorable in my opinion. They should have let him jump!" "As anyone with a small amount of common sense could determine, the folks with the power made a bad decision. If a person wants to jump off the bridge, just ignore him. Do we seriously need to inconvenience all the innocent sane people for one nut? I say NO." "Nothing like a potential bridge jumper to get the Sheriff's Office adrenaline pumping. Do you honestly think they needed to take all those precautions? If the guy ends up running in front of a car, then he ends up getting what he intended in the first place. Now you know why you hear of other instances where people drive by and tell bridge jumpers to go ahead and get it over with." "What I cannot believe is the amount of money we (as tax payers) spend every year keeping these people from jumping off the Skyway. . . . I don't want to sound crass - but there has to be a solution to this dilemma." "We (taxpayers) pay such great amounts of money and time in "training" our officials for emergency situations. I (like thousands of others) was extremely frustrated to sit idly watching the lack of organization in which the "ENTIRE SITUATION" was handled." "I was looking forward to dinner, books and a relaxing evening with my family. Instead I endured an evening in the 90 (degree) heat, without a bathroom, without food, without any information and completely miserable. . . . Delaying working individuals, children, infants and elderly people for four hours in the heat is defined as torture in many civilized countries. I pay my taxes, I go to church, what have I done to deserve such treatment." "I did find time to balance my checkbook, clean out my center console (boy, I sure collected a lot of business cards over the years), make a small grocery list, and thanks to cell phones, made a hair appointment and caught up chatting with some friends." Who's in charge? Jurisdiction on the Sunshine Skyway bridge can be confusing. Four different law enforcement agencies share the burden, with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office responsible for the center span. |
| 07.08.04, TAMPA TRIBUNE,
Anguished Dad Held In Skyway Tie-Up, By DAVID SOMMER CLEARWATER - The man behind a 10-mile-long traffic jam that stranded thousands of motorists on the Sunshine Skyway bridge for about four hours Tuesday evening had just learned the latest sad news about his brain-damaged infant son. Michael Vincent, who is facing up to 30 years in prison on a charge of aggravated child abuse, had just left his lawyer's office where he read recent medical reports regarding the injuries he inflicted on his 11- week-old son in early April, defense attorney Jay Hebert said in court Wednesday. Vincent, 37, tried to contact his estranged wife in violation of court orders about 5 p.m., shortly before Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies shut down all southbound traffic on the Skyway after Vincent threatened to jump, Assistant State Attorney Lydia Wardell told a judge Wednesday. The child's grandmother answered the telephone at the Vincents' Clearwater home and reminded him he was under court orders not to contact his wife, Mary, the prosecutor told Circuit Judge Linda Allan. Vincent responded: ``That doesn't matter anymore. Just tell her I love her and I hope she is going to be OK,' '' Wardell said. After talking Vincent down off the bridge, deputies took him to a secure counseling facility under the state's Baker Act, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Wednesday. Allan convened an emergency hearing Wednesday afternoon at the prosecutor's request. After hearing from both Wardell and Hebert, the judge issued an arrest warrant without bail to ensure that Vincent is taken directly to Pinellas County Jail upon his release from the Hillsborough facility. Hebert said his client needs mental health counseling. Allan agreed to consider moving him to a medical facility. Vincent was arrested April 8, the day after 11-week-old Ryan Vincent was rushed to Mease Countryside Hospital with injuries including bleeding in his brain that left the child in a coma, according to court records. Vincent denied injuring the boy but later made a full confession, his defense attorney told the judge Wednesday. Hebert described his client as a distinguished Gulf War veteran who now works as a diver on underwater bridge projects and has never been in trouble with the law. On April 7, Vincent had a ``five- to 10-second outburst'' of poor judgment when he shook his infant son in a misguided attempt to make the baby stop crying, Hebert said. As a condition of his release pending resolution of the aggravated child abuse charge, Vincent has been prohibited from contacting his wife and has not been receiving information about the boy, Hebert said. On Tuesday, after Vincent read recent medical reports at Hebert's office, ``he said he was going to church and then to counseling in the morning,'' Hebert told the judge. ``I think he's just incredibly depressed over this tragic situation,'' the defense attorney said. Wardell said the child has suffered significant, life-altering injuries and that Vincent's state of mind has left him a danger to himself and others. Allan said she agreed. Vincent had pulled over and parked his car in the Skyway's southbound breakdown lane shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday and sat straddling the edge of the bridge, one leg over the water, one on the pavement, when Hillsborough deputies arrived to close the bridge and began speaking with him. They spoke for most of four hours, with northbound drivers sometimes screaming ``Jump!'' from their cars as they passed, witnesses said. Vehicles in the southbound lanes of the Sunshine Skyway were backed up for miles, almost to 54th Avenue South, said Trooper Larry Coggins of the Florida Highway Patrol. At one point, a northbound lane was closed and cars were backed up to Interstate 75 in Manatee County, he said. The traffic jam lasted from slightly after 5 to 9:20 p.m., Coggins said. ``They made the decision to close the bridge and we respect their decision,'' Coggins said. ``There were a lot of unhappy motorists, but the bottom line is, no officers were hurt, no citizens were hurt and the subject was taken into custody safely,'' Coggins said. |
| 07.08.04, USF
Oracle, Opinion Citizens forget how to show sympathy, display apathy Tuesday the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office shut down lanes on the southbound side of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge because of a suicidal man who planned to jump off of the 197-foot bridge. Disappointingly, however, passengers stuck in the resulting traffic jam voiced more concern about the delay caused than about the suicidal man. According to the St. Petersburg Times, the Florida Highway Patrol received thousands of angry phone calls from commuters stuck on the bridge -- commuters allegedly angry about the decision to close the lanes on the bridge in order to deal with the disoriented man. Debbie Carter, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, told the Times that the decision was made to close the bridge in order to allow deputies to talk to the man and avoid giving him the opportunity to run in front of passing cars. Yet, Michael Geraci, a commuter caught in the traffic, told the Times, "No one came to help, to give water, or even to tell us what was happening ... that's the most disheartening part of this whole ordeal." What was the most disheartening part of the situation was the fact that a man was trying to end his life, potentially only feet away from where Geraci's car was stopped, not the admittedly inconvenient situation it put commuters in. According to rough statistics compiled by Jumppool.com (you could have maybe got the site name correct.), a sarcastic yet anti-suicide Web site tracking how many suicides occur on the Skyway bridge, 13 suicides with only three saves took place at the bridge in 2003. Hillsborough County itself was ranked the second-highest county in Florida for the number of suicides in 1997, as reported by The USF Department of Child & Family Studies. According to the Times, since the FHP began suicide watches in 2000, 46 lives have been saved -- without shutting down the bridge. But considering the fact that deputies felt it was not only necessary to shut down the lanes, but to have snipers present as well, it is apparent that the closures were made in the public's best interest. All people involved with the Skyway incident walked away unscathed. Outcomes such as these need to be considered before people complain about being stuck in traffic. |
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07.09.04, © St. Petersburg Times;
The Skyway fiasco, A Times Editorial Though it sounds good to blame safety concerns, Tuesday's massive backup on the Sunshine Skyway bridge might have been avoided if authorities had better coordinated their response to a man threatening to jump. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office closed most traffic on the bridge during the evening rush-hour drive as deputies talked the man off a southbound ledge. Thousands of motorists were stuck for hours, and while safety must come first, closing the bridge for so long poses its own safety concerns. Tuesday's problem shows the problem of having multiple law enforcement agencies share jurisdiction over the bridge. While the roadway connects Pinellas and Manatee counties, Hillsborough controls the center of the span because the shipping channel underneath it resides in Hillsborough County. To confuse things even more, the Florida Highway Patrol assigns a trooper to the bridge 24-hours a day. Troopers typically are the first to respond to would-be jumpers, while Hillsborough dispatches negotiators or larger emergency management teams. Given the bridge's long history as a place for jumps and the convoluted jurisdictional lines that could affect a life-or-death response, the various agencies should have unified their game plan by now for securing this high-traffic bridge. Hillsborough sheriff's officials at their Tampa headquarters decided Tuesday to close all southbound lanes and one northbound lane on the bridge. A sheriff's spokesman said Wednesday the move was designed to lessen noise on the bridge, thereby allowing officers to hear and speak to the man threatening to jump. No cars on the bridge guaranteed the man would not break and run into traffic. The FHP wanted to keep the bridge open, as it has done dozens of times in recent years while talking down a jumper. But troopers deferred to the Sheriff's Office. While each case is different, keeping one lane of traffic open in each direction does not seem unreasonable. Certainly the presence of a half-dozen police vehicles, their lights flashing in the closed lane, would slow down traffic on the bridge enough to create a safe environment for police and distressed persons. Additional officers could be called to direct traffic and stop the flow if a person tries to bolt before a car. The bridge, as a contained roadway, makes it hard for a would-be jumper to flee and elude police. Keeping traffic flowing would also keep motorists from reacting to the frustration by taking illegal and dangerous steps to break from the logjam. Thousands of motorists were stranded Tuesday in miles-long traffic jams. Many of them, no doubt, were worried about personal obligations or the need to contact friends, employers and family. This "fiasco," as the FHP called it, should spur a review of procedures. The various law enforcement agencies should be agreeing beforehand on the script to follow during such incidents. |
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07.10.04, © St. Petersburg Times;
Bridge procedures need another look Re: Sunshine Skyway bridge fiasco. Trapped for several hours in the sizzling summer heat with no food, no water, no bathroom, and no escape: Are we talking about Iraqi prisoners being treated badly in an American military prison? No, we are talking about thousands of hard-working, law-abiding, tax- paying citizens who had the misfortune of driving their vehicles onto the Sunshine Skyway bridge Tuesday and being forced to stop while do-good officials tried to save the life of a despondent man threatening to jump from the 192-foot span. Yes, they were successful in saving the life of this man (no doubt several hundred angry, stranded, hungry motorists were further angered by this "good" news), but we really need to review our procedures concerning this situation. First of all, I recall a psychologist once confiding to me that a person who "threatens" suicide rarely follows through at that time; it's the sneaky person who is too distraught to say anything to anybody who usually follows through. Whether this reasoning has any credence, I don't know. So let's consider this: What if one of our tired, stranded motorists had a stroke due to the sweltering heat, and died because of the inability to get prompt emergency attention? Would we be willing to look at things differently? Would common sense prevail? Henry J. Weese, Palm Harbor Situation was shamefully handled Re: Troubled man, suffering drivers, July 7. Shame on the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office for closing down the southbound lanes of the Sunshine Skyway and holding thousands of drivers (including myself) captive in 95-degree heat for four-plus hours without water, bathrooms and pertinent information! Shame on the Florida Highway Patrol for not taking over the case. I must cross the Skyway bridge every day, and I only hope that when the next senseless individual attempts to commit suicide, the Highway Patrol is called in, the public is notified frequently via radio and television media, and one lane remains open for traffic to proceed. Kim Caminiti, St. Petersburg Inhumane sentiments Re: Official unapologetic for closing Skyway, July 8. I empathize with the discomfort experienced by those stuck in traffic for four hours while authorities dealt with a suicide threat on the Sunshine Skyway bridge this week. I understand their anger and frustration, and I don't blame them a bit. I'd be angry in that situation, myself. There is now a debate whether the bridge should've been closed. Meanwhile, whether it was the right decision or not, may God strike me dead before I ever sink so low into the moral abyss as to call for another person to jump to his death, as reportedly happened while cars were still able to drive past the scene on the bridge. The same uncharitable sentiments were expressed in the sampling of e- mails to the Times published in the paper. All this indicating - to me, anyway - that the fellow human being threatening to take his own life wasn't the only disturbed soul on the bridge that day. I hope and I pray that those folks never have anyone close to them - or that they themselves - ever fall into such despair that they sit at the edge of the Skyway bridge while people yell, "Go ahead and kill yourself." May it never happen. Louis A. Claudio, Safety Harbor Look for a better solution Re: Official unapologetic for closing Skyway. Surely transportation and public safety officials can find a middle ground between the unbridled apathy of Hillsborough Sheriff's Maj. Gary Terry toward the health and safety of thousands of Pinellas and Manatee County drivers, and those same drivers who in their frustration and anger demand that the poor souls who stand on the edge of the Sunshine Skyway be pushed over the side. (On a related issue, just how wacky is it that Hillsborough County officials control a bridge that joins Pinellas and Manatee Counties?) The bridge is neatly divided by Jersey barriers into two two- lane sides, one north and the other south. Contingency procedures should be established so that on either side of the bridge, one lane could be used to carry traffic each way. It's not particularly tough to do so using programmable signs and lane-control lights; local officials could visit the twin Chesapeake Bay Bridges near Annapolis, Md., to see how it's done. It's both laudable and necessary to try to save the lives of those staring into the abyss. At the same time, the rest of us have lives that must go on as well. Wayne Griffith, St. Petersburg A self-absorbed society Re: Official unapologetic for closing Skyway. I just read some of the angry e-mails that were sent to the Times, and it left me deeply disturbed. This is a human life. True, the man did a horrible thing to his child and his wife, but he will pay for that. What kind of self-absorbed society do we live in that we would yell "jump" out of the window to someone who is desperately in need of help just because we were late for dinner? I was caught in that traffic jam - hot, hungry, irritated. But I was still better off than the guy standing on the edge of the bridge. Stacey McKee, Palmetto Try nets and warning signs As we watched the events unfold on the Sunshine Skyway bridge and as we sympathized with the people who were backed up in traffic for hours, my husband said again, why can't they put up some kind of a net under the high span of that bridge where people want to jump over so these things won't happen. We just returned from a trip through Atlanta. This is the third time we were held up in traffic because of an accident on I-75. We were in the middle of miles of cars backed up for more than three hours, so I know how those people felt. In Georgia, there is a sign over the roadway that warns people of an accident and possible traffic delays. Those that knew of another route were able to get off and go around. Wouldn't it be possible to put up a sign that would let people know that there is an accident or incident like the one this week, so they would have a choice of taking another route before they get on the bridge? We highly commend the Florida Highway Patrol for helping those that did not jump and the sheriff's deputies for coaxing this man off of the bridge. Dennis and Arlene Scott, St. Petersburg Give cars a place to turn around Re: Troubled man, suffering drivers, July 7. It would appear that providing emergency "turnarounds" between the north and south lanes at the Sunshine Skyway approaches would be prudent. Cost would be relatively low and would enable motorists to extricate themselves from an otherwise untenable situation. Additionally, turnarounds could free up emergency vehicles. Ralph Lenberger, St. Pete Beach |
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12.16.04, © St. Petersburg Times;
Dad gets prison, boy gets injury for lifetime; RICHARD DANIELSON A Clearwater man who shook his 3-month-old son so violently that the baby went into a coma and suffered permanent brain damage has pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison. Michael Vincent, 37, also faces 20 years of probation following his release from prison and has agreed to give up his parental rights. The infant, now nearly 11 months old, is out of the coma but "has a significant brain injury from which he will not ever fully recover," prosecutor Tim Hessinger said. Vincent was one shake away from facing a homicide charge, Hessinger told Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Linda Allan, who sentenced Vincent on Dec. 3. The case is a clear example of why no one should ever shake a baby, according to child protection advocates. "Effectively (the infant) got a life sentence and so did mom; I think that's what people really don't understand," said Janet Goree of Clearwater, the vice president of the Shaken Baby Alliance, a nonprofit group based in Fort Worth, Texas. "You just can't have your brain hurt and not suffer some long- term consequence," said Goree, whose 6-week-old granddaughter Kimberlin went blind and died three years after being shaken violently by her father. "Rarely do we see one walk away." Vincent was accused of shaking his son April 7 because the baby would not stop crying. After his arrest, Vincent was released to live with his mother in Naples and to continue working as a commercial diver and bridge inspector. That way, he could keep the health insurance for his family, court records show. But he continued to contact his wife in spite of court orders not to do so. He sent letters and videotapes of himself talking to her and their children. July 6, Vincent called his wife's home about 5 p.m. and asked the person who answered the telephone to tell his wife, "I love her and I hope she is going to be okay." Forty-five minutes later, he was at the top of the southbound lanes on the Sunshine Skyway bridge, threatening to jump 197 feet to his death. Both sides of the bridge were shut down for more than three hours, affecting thousands of motorists, while a negotiator talked Vincent down. In his letters, Vincent apologized to his wife "for ruining your life," said he hated himself, offered to surrender his parental rights and called himself a monster who lost control. "I didn't mean to hurt him at all," wrote Vincent, a 9-year U.S. Army veteran who served in the Persian Gulf War. At the time of the incident, he had been treated for depression but had stopped taking Prozac. "I am so sorry for putting the family through this." Shaking a baby can cause serious brain trauma that leads to blindness, paralysis, seizures, brain damage and death. Most deaths occur in children younger than 2. When a baby is shaken, the infant's head, which is heavy and not supported by strong neck muscles, whips back and forth and rotates, a combination of forces that damages nerve cells, nerve fibers and blood vessels that nourish the brain. It is the shearing of the nerve cells, with their long fiberlike connections, that is the biggest reason for the brain damage, say doctors who treat such injuries. Parents and caregivers should always remember that whatever is making a baby cry is not as serious as the damage they can do by shaking a baby, experts say. When adults are about to lose their temper, it's much better to put down the crying infant and leave the room. In Pinellas, parents can call Help a Child Inc., which is affiliated with the Child Protection Team, at (727) 544-3900, for advice on coping with a crying baby. Goree said every parent feels frustrated from time to time, which is why it's important to have a plan for when a child is crying and cannot be consoled. It could be something as simple as taking a hot shower, exercising or calling a friend or relative. No one should ever touch a child out of frustration or anger, Goree said. "When you feel that way, put the baby down and walk away," she said. "No child ever died from crying. But children do die when people pick them up and shake them violently." NEVER SHAKE A BABY Even otherwise loving parents who become frustrated by the stress of caring for a baby can seriously injure or kill an infant by shaking it. Nationally, an estimated 800 to 1,200 babies a year are brought to emergency rooms with symptoms that someone shook them violently. Experts offer these tips on avoiding abuse: Never shake an infant under the age of 2, for any reason. Always provide support for baby's head when holding, playing with or transporting child. Make sure all those who come in contact with baby know the dangers of shaking. If a baby is shaken, seek immediate medical attention. Delays compound the severity of the injuries. Babies sometimes cry even if they are not hungry or wet. Here are some ways to stop a baby from crying: Hug the baby and speak soothingly. Offer the baby a pacifier. Take the baby for a walk in a stroller or ride in a car. Put on soft music. Run a vacuum cleaner within hearing range of the baby. Place the baby in a safe carrier (never unattended, though) on top of a clothes dryer while it is running. Put the baby in a snuggly body carrier that holds the infant close to your chest and walk around. Put the child in a crib or other safe place and leave the room for a few minutes. Come back to check on them every 5 minutes or so. Ask a friend or relative to care for the baby temporarily. Take 10 deep breaths. Take 10 more. Take a shower, read a book, listen to music, think of a pleasant memory. There are parent help lines to call in an emergency, including toll-free 1-800-352-5683 and in Pinellas County, Help a Child Inc. at (727) 544-3900. Information from the nonprofit Shaken Baby Alliance is at www.shakenbaby.com. |
| thank you, jumpnews
contributors: jennifer, sarasota, fl., Jim D., St. Petersburg, FL., Jason, Bradenton, FL.,
and Jamison, as well as the following: 07.06.04, R., Wimama, My sister was trying to come see me about some property for sale. She was stuck just after the southbound toll booth. One of the toll takers said they heard on their radio that someone had jumped. Traffic backed up for miles. A check on the FHP website showed "suicide" at 4:55 pm. After sitting for over an hour, at this posting, she has not moved from the "parking lot". She tells me people are getting out and talking to each other. 07.06.04, ESP, St. Pete., Driving north on Skyway when things come to a screaming stop at the crest as one of FHP's finest stops northbound traffic. Damn near tailended the guy in front of me. Southbound lanes a mass of FHP, SPPD, SPFD, etc. Noticed a short haired guy in bright orange T-shirt sitting on western edge of bridge in middle of span with feet hanging over water. No idea what happened, I'll check back here later. 07.06.04, leaper of faith, palmetto, i was stuck at the bottom of the bridge for 4 hours tonight while some chowderhead sat up there and cried like a little beeeetch. Just after the lighning struck he decieded, "hey i could get killed up here" and traffic started moving again. If you are thinking of jumping, think about it long and hard and if you still want to jump, then jump, but don't sit at the top of the bridge and hold thousands of people hostage. i just sat on the bridge for 4 hours and got stories from all kinds of people, a pregnat woman, a couple from New York who had a flight to catch, they missed it, a woman who had dinner planned with her Grandma, no dinner. And the person didn't jump. either jump or get off the bridge!!!!! 07.06.04, jb., clearwater, I saw him. He was sitting on the rail of the southbound lanes. The police had the lane closest to him blocked, but were letting traffic thru on the center most lane. He was a male, around 30. He was sitting with his left leg on the rail and right leg hanging down. He was holding the rail with his left hand and his right arm was out with his hand up, seeming to tell the closest policeman to stay back. 07.07.04, MP, Pikeville, KY., What the hell happened on the bridge tonight? My Family and I are here on vacation and were driving from Sarasota to St. Pete tonight when we ran into some bad traffic right before crossing the bridge. Being unfamiliar with the bridge, we were concerned that there was too much weight on the bridge from the slowdown. Cops and unmarked vans were screaming by us as we started up the bridge. When we got to the top of the bridge, we see cops adorning body armor and we notice a police sniper.. uhhh. sharpshooter with his scope trained on someone. We passed the individual in question. I noticed he was wearing an orange top and the kids said he was wearing all orange. Was he an escapee??? We got done eating in St. Pete around 10:00 and I asked the cops and they said the bridge was still closed. I can't find anything on this story yet though. There was a brief mention of it on Mix 100.7 07.07.04, Paul S., Sarasota, Another Save and a traffic nightmare. Thousands of cars backed up for miles. This guy sure got the attention he was seeking..... I'm sure most of those hot and stranded drivers would have helped him over the edge. 07.07.04, Nichole, Palmetto, FL., Last evening the entire southbound lane was completely closed down as there was a jumper on the top of the skyway that started at 5:30 p.m. and I was stuck on the road for 5 hours until he was finally giving in or surrendered.....he picked this time during rush hour traffic and traffic was backed up for over five miles for this idiot !!! Supposedly he had a gun or a bomb so there were snipers and all involved....people were literaly using the bushes for urinals both men and women and children....we did not move and all of our cars were turned off for five hours !!! What an asshole..I would of gladly pushed him off myself.... us civilians had not water ...no restrooms ...cars overheating..wasted gas an we were told nothing..had to use our cell phones to call people at home to turn on the news to find out what was going on...!!!! |
| (the answer to this is easy. if someone is hanging on the edge, threatening to jump, the first police on the scene simply walks up, grabs the person, and puts them in the patrol car. this process would take no more than 1-3 minutes. if the person jumps, the police get back in their car and leave the recovery to the coast guard. simple, to the point, and traffic moves smoothly once again. it could not get easier. far too much time and energy are wasted on these incidents. maybe bridge patrollers could employ the 'jabber 3000x' assault spear gun to tag them in the leg. that way, if they jump or fall over, they could be pulled back up or lowered safely to the bottom. ouch, that would hurt. we crack ourselves up.) |
| 06.11.04: Man talked out of jumping from Skyway bridge. |
|
© St. Petersburg Times;
By JAMIE THOMPSON, Published June 12, 2004 |
| thank you, jumpnews
contributor: 06.11.04, K, gogobutt, Ellenton, Someone is jumping NOW! June 11, 2004 3:35 PM! Holding up traffic! Jump already!!! Move traffic along! (thanks, gogobutt. i just wanted to type the word gogobutt.) |
| 05.31.04: Troopers determine life, death on Skyway. |
|
© St. Petersburg Times;
Troopers determine life, death on Skyway, The officers' quick action saves a 22-year-old man just as he jumps off the bridge.
By KELLY VIRELLA Published June 1, 2004 |
| TAMPA TRIBUNE,
Troopers grab man trying to jump from Skyway bridge. BY JILL KING GREENWOOD ST. PETERSBURG -- Florida Highway Patrol Troopers Mark Cross and Dan Cole had a split second to decide what to do. The troopers were standing atop the Sunshine Skyway bridge just before 3 a.m. Monday, talking to a man threatening to jump. He was talking to a friend on a cell phone as he stood atop the bridge, Cross said, and told his friend he planned to jump. The friend called 911, and the call was routed to Cross, on routine patrol looking for stranded motorists, vehicle accidents and potential jumpers along the five-mile stretch of bridge. When Cross approached the man and began talking to the him, the man already was hanging off the bridge, Cross said. "Only his upper torso and his right leg were on the inside of the barrier wall," Cross said. "The rest of him was hanging over." As Cross talked to the jumper, Cole positioned himself toward the man's back and waited. Cross said the jumper told him he "had nothing left to live for" and released his tenuous hold on the bridge wall. Cole and Cross lunged forward and caught the man before he fell. "At first I lost sight of him, and I thought he was gone," Cross said. "It was a struggle to get him back over the wall because he really wanted to end it and to jump and he wasn't helping us drag him back over. I guess it was just adrenaline, because he was a big man and we managed to save him." The troopers, based in Pinellas County, were assisted by two St. Petersburg Fire Department firefighters in pulling the man to safety. The firefighters' names were not available. Cross said the man was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. FHP Trooper Larry Coggins said the patrol began assigning troopers to around-the-clock bridge patrol in January 2000. He said that since then, troopers have rescued or prevented 45 people from jumping off the bridge. |
| thank you, jumpnews
contributors: 06.01.04, Paul S., Sarasota, (05.31.04, 3:07am, male, saved), This was a SAVE by the FHP Skyway patrol. 22 y/o male over the side was grabbed and pulled back from the brink...He's cooling his heels in the nut house for a while. Here's a link to the Sarasota Herald Tribune. I could not find a link to the Bradenton Herald's story, but their story was on the front page of today's local section and was a reprint of a story in the St. Pete Times by Kelly Virella. 06.01.04, Raven, Satin Pete, (05.31.04, 3am, male, saved) tbo.com THe guy jumped and a cop grabbed him and hung on. |
| 03.28.04 |
| florida highway patrol web site: Suicide 8:25PM PINELLAS SKYWAY BRIDGE [ST PETERSBURG]
© St. Petersburg Times;
FHP trooper pulls man to safety on Skyway, Published March 29, 2004 |
| thank you, jumpnews
contributor: 03.28.04, Tampa, Fl., Law enforcement have been spotted out with a person on top of the Skyway now 8:40p. (thank you for your continued input.) 03.29.04, Merilyn, Oldsmar, FL., Trooper Jeffrey L. Johnson rescued the unidentified man shortly before 9 p.m. as the man began to lose his balance on the bridge's ledge, said FHP Lt. Bruce Doras. Troopers think the man intended to jump. Copied from St. Pete Times. Is this one and the same??? 08.28.04, unknown, Name of almost jumper was Timothy (last name withheld) of Port Richey Florida was talked out of jumping and the next month took his life with a pistol to the head, leaving behind a wife and 4 children (this report is unconfirmed.) 08.28.04, Hans, This Jumper is the enfant terrible of the VP Trivia room. Hs true pic was posted and he went ballistic..He told a lot of ladies he was lamky, slim Gary Cooper type and it turns out he is Bigger than Al Franken's father (this report is unconfirmed and somewhat bizarre.) |
| date unknown |
|
09.21.04, Bob, skywayland, Here is a recent skyway jumper photo I got my hands on. She was a failed jump attempt, her got taken down before she jumped. Not that serious about doing it I suppose.
If the host goes down email me and I'll reply with the pic. You may use it on your website. Copyright belongs to me. Taken with a camera phone, sorry for quality.
(thank you. any more info
on this incident is appreciated.)
|
| earlier 'almost jumper' articles. |
