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wannabe jumpers |
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| 05.20.03: Deputy talks man off Skyway |
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© St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla.; May 20, 2003; CHRIS TISCH; Capt. Cal Dennie thought he heard the whoosh of passing cars. He heard wind and water. "Where are you?" he asked the man calling from his cell phone. "I'm on the Skyway bridge," Dennie recalled the man saying. The man said he was either going to jump or put a bullet in his head. "Calvin, I'm in trouble," the caller said. "I lost it. I stabbed her 20 times. I can't go to jail." Dennie told him: "Let's deal with one thing first. Let's get off the bridge." Such was the situation Dennie, a 21-year Pinellas Sheriff's Office veteran, found himself in early Sunday morning. He had been awakened just before 2 a.m. with news that a suspect in an attempted murder wanted to speak to him. And then he was thrust into talking the distraught suspect off Tampa Bay's suicide bridge. The chain of events leading to that phone conversation began just after 10 p.m. in Dunedin. Sheriff's officials say Andre Talley, 38, got into an argument with his 34-year-old wife at her home. They had been married only about a week, though they had been together for about nine years. Their children, a 5-year-old girl and an 8-month old boy, were at the home. As the argument escalated, Talley grabbed a steak knife, deputies said. His wife and daughter darted out the door. Talley gave chase, deputies said. Talley caught his wife in the middle of the road and stabbed her six times in the upper body, deputies said. His daughter witnessed the attack. Talley left the scene in his car as several witnesses helped his wife. Paramedics took her to Mease Dunedin Hospital, and she was transferred by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center. Her wounds are not considered life-threatening, deputies said. Talley eluded a manhunt. But just before 2 a.m., Talley called the Sheriff's Office. He told deputies he would speak only to Dennie, whom he has known for 15 years. Talley met Dennie through the captain's ex-wife. She and Talley worked together in the health care field, Dennie said. "He's a real good worker," Dennie said. Though Dennie said he does not socialize with Talley, they talked maybe once every eight or nine weeks. Though Talley has a criminal history including charges of stalking and domestic battery, Dennie said he never saw a violent side of him. After hearing from Talley, deputies called Dennie at his home at 1:50 a.m., awakening him. Talley had not left a phone number, so Dennie gave deputies his cell phone number. He told them to pass it to Talley if he called back. After hanging up, Dennie called the department's communications center to learn more details of the stabbing and the condition of Talley's wife. Within 10 minutes, Talley called the Sheriff's Office back. Then he dialed Dennie's cell phone. Dennie immediately heard the rush of cars and what sounded like water. "I was wondering what was this rush of water," Dennie said Monday. "I heard cars go by." Talley told Dennie he was at the apex of the bridge. He had climbed over the rail, but retreated after he looked down, Dennie said. "He figured he didn't want to go that way," he said. Dennie told Talley his wife was alive, that there were better ways out of this. He urged him to leave the bridge. "Let's first talk about this suicide thing," Dennie remembers telling him. "Christians don't commit suicide. You need to remember that. Your soul depends on your actions." Talley listened to Dennie and left the bridge. He asked to meet. They decided on the parking lot of the Old New York New York nightclub on U.S. 19 at 3:30 a.m. "Will you arrest me?" Dennie said Talley asked. Dennie told him yes. Talley said he didn't want any uniformed deputies at their meeting place, so Dennie summoned two plainclothes detectives to join him. Dennie and the detectives arrived at the parking lot and waited. Talley didn't show. Dennie immediately worried that Talley had returned to the bridge. "I was concerned," he said. He called Talley's cell phone. Talley said he was scared. Dennie again encouraged him to surrender. At about 3:55 a.m., Talley drove into the parking lot where deputies took him into custody. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Monday in lieu of $250,000 bail. Dennie, who was promoted earlier this year to captain to serve as the agency's diversity officer, said he only did what comes naturally to a deputy sheriff. "Saved a life, that's what it's all about," Dennie said. "That's just part of the job. I didn't do anything spectacular." |
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Woman's dream dashed amid violence © St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg, Fla.; May 24, 2003; CHRIS TISCH; All Terri Stevens wanted was a happy family. Her family says she put up with abuse. She perhaps forgave more than she should have. She listened to false promises, her brother said. On Friday, Stevens lay in a hospital bed on a ventilator that pumps air into her lungs. Doctors have given her medication to induce a comatose state. She is too weak to endure surgery. Her prognosis for recovery is shaky, said the family. "If it wasn't for this ventilator, Terri wouldn't be with us right now," said her brother, Rick Stevens. Last weekend, Terri Stevens was stabbed six times in the upper body by her husband, Andre Talley, Pinellas sheriff's deputies said. Talley, 38, later was arrested on an attempted murder charge. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. Rick Stevens said his sister suffered through previous incidents of domestic violence from Talley, who court records show has been arrested on four domestic abuse and stalking charges and convicted once in the last three years. "We want the public to learn from this," Rick Stevens said. "We want to make sure it doesn't happen to somebody else. (Victims) need to seek help as fast as possible. We want people to learn from this because we're learning from this." Meanwhile, family members stay at the hospital with Terri Stevens around the clock, her brother said. He hopes people in the community will find a place in their prayers for her, too. "We pray for Terri every day," he said. According to sheriff's deputies, Talley and Stevens, 34, have been together for about nine years, though they got married only about two weeks ago. The couple maintain separate residences. Talley came over to Stevens' Dunedin home Saturday night. An argument ensued. Deputies said Talley threatened his wife. The couple's 5-year-old daughter and 8-month-old son were at home at the time. Rick Stevens said Talley spanked the 5-year-old after she cried, "Don't you hurt my mommy." Deputies said Terri Stevens gathered up her daughter and headed for the door. Talley grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen and gave chase, deputies said. Talley caught his wife in the middle of the street and stabbed her, deputies said. The 5-year-old girl witnessed the violence, reports state. A taxi happened to turn onto the street at the time. One passenger grabbed the girl while the other ran to Terri Stevens, her brother said. Deputies said Talley fled. He eluded a manhunt, then called a deputy from the top of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. The deputy, Capt. Cal Dennie, talked Talley down from the bridge. Talley later turned himself in. Terri Stevens was flown by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center, where she has been listed in critical condition, her family said. "It doesn't seem like she's healing very fast at all," her brother said. Her daughter is suffering emotionally from witnessing the violence, said the family. She has been receiving counseling. "She's not understanding the reasons why he did this," Rick Stevens said. "She wanted to help her mommy, but she couldn't. He left her for dead in the middle of the street." Rick Stevens said his sister was working as acting manager at Stepping Stone, a transitional housing program in Largo operated by Religious Community Services. He said she was well liked and enjoyed helping others. "It's just a shame that she tries to help people as much as she can and now . . . this has happened where she needs help," her brother said. |
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Paper failed readers by ignoring victim's plight © St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg, Fla.; May 27, 2003; Re: Deputy talks man off Skyway, story, May 20. I just read the article about the man who attempted to jump off the Sunshine Skyway bridge after having tried to kill his wife by stabbing her several times. I am absolutely appalled by your article. I'm not sure if you are complete idiots or if you are just cold-hearted and completely clueless about the reality of the situation. Did you even bother to learn the facts in this case before you wrote this article? Your article stated that her wounds are not life-threatening. (Editor's note: The story attributed that information to sheriff's deputies.) Her condition is very life-threatening. She's been given a 50/50 chance of survival. How in the world could you make so light of what this man did to his wife in front of their children? And then, to add what a hero the sheriff's deputy is to have "saved" him from committing suicide! I understand the Sheriff's Office's first responsibility was to get him off that bridge, regardless of what he had done; however, to lightly brush over the real crime that had taken place and put all of the importance on this "poor man" being so distraught that he tried to kill himself makes me sick and extremely angry. The article stated that he had a criminal history including stalking and domestic battery, yet you chose to quote the officer who said, "He's a real good worker." I think it was in very poor taste for you to build up the man's character and focus on what a "great" guy he is. You might as well have said he's "a great guy, and his wife and children are completely insignificant and unimportant. As long as we saved the poor guy from killing himself, we can all sleep tonight." How could you have been so incredibly indifferent about something so serious? If this is how your writers (and I use that term very loosely) research and write articles, I think we'd all be better off getting our news from a gossipy neighbor. There would be far more facts involved in secondhand gossip than in what I just read from your newspaper. Jennifer A., Clearwater (perhaps letting this guy jump would have been a good thing. there is something to be said about thinning out the herd, especially after his past history of offenses, attempted murder, and his wanting to die anyway. [we have always wondered about the 'suicide watch'. what's with that? just turn your back and let mother nature's lunacy complete it's cycle. all jail cells should be fitted with a strong rope hanging from the ceiling and a stool to kick out from under anyone that wishes to do so. good riddance.] we are surprised jennifer's words were published. way to go, jennifer.) |
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Husband charged in stabbing jailed again © St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Jul 8, 2003; CHRIS TISCH; Six weeks ago, Terri Stevens was in a coma. A ventilator breathed for her. A half-dozen stab wounds scarred her upper body. Her family didn't know if she would ever wake up. Her husband, Andre Talley, sat in the Pinellas County Jail charged with attempted murder. Pinellas sheriff's deputies said he tried to stab Stevens to death in front of their 5-year-old daughter. In the weeks since then, Stevens woke up from her coma and was discharged from the hospital. And on Wednesday, Talley posted $250,000 bail and was released from jail. On Sunday afternoon, Talley was arrested again, this time on charges that he repeatedly drove by Stevens and her family, frightening them by rolling down his window and staring at them. Clearwater police arrested Talley, 38, on a felony charge of tampering with a victim and a misdemeanor charge of violating a domestic violence injunction. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bail. According to court records, Talley has a history of domestic abuse, having been charged with four domestic violence charges in the past three years. He was convicted of only one of those charges, however. Deputies said the couple have known each other for years but married only a couple of weeks before the May 17 stabbing. Deputies said Talley and Stevens argued that night. After he grabbed a steak knife, she scooped up her 5-year-old daughter and ran outside, officials said. He caught her in the street and stabbed her in front of the child, according to deputies. While Stevens, 35, was taken to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment, Talley drove to the Sunshine Skyway bridge and considered jumping off. A Pinellas sheriff's captain talked him off the bridge and persuaded him to turn himself in. A few days after the incident, Stevens' family members described her condition as dire. She didn't have the strength to undergo surgery and doctors induced a comatose state. About three weeks ago, doctors decided to wean Stevens off the ventilator, though her doctor was unsure how she would respond. "He didn't expect Terri to pull through," said her brother, Rick Stevens. "But by prayers and everything, Terri did." She was discharged two weeks ago. She receives physical therapy and is starting to walk without having to grab onto things. She also is undergoing emotional counseling, her brother said. "Even though the wounds are healing, you still have the inside that may never heal," Rick Stevens said. He said Terri Stevens and her sister took their children to the Martin Luther King Recreational Complex in Clearwater on Sunday afternoon. Police said Talley drove by them three times. "He was just driving by. That's fine and dandy, but you don't drive by at 10 mph and then come back 10 minutes later," Rick Stevens said. He said his sister was rattled by what happened. She had obtained an injunction ordering Talley to stay away from her family. A judge also had ordered Talley to stay away from Stevens and her children when he was released on bail. "I think she was upset about it. She's scared of him. The whole family is," Rick Stevens said. "He had an injunction he should have followed and he didn't. And that's why he's back where he's at." (sure, he's put away again now, but watch, some jackass lawyer will get him out and once again, a piece of paper is all this family has to insure he stays away from them. maybe 2 or 3 more pieces of paper will do the trick. how about 6 pieces of paper? how about 200 pounds of paper dropped on the assbag's head from a great height? can someone please help this guy finish what he started up on the bridge? to think he was allowed to torment this family again shows just how screwed up our legal system is. have they installed the rope and stool in his jail cell yet? can we get that done, stat? if this asshole bothers or harms this family again, we want to see the judge and any lawyers that helped him get out of jail, held responsible. had this shithead's dog simply bit terri stevens, the dog would be put down with little argument, yet he is capable of acting worse than an animal and yet, he isn't put down like the vicious dog he is. you bleeding heart liberal shits can kiss our collective asses if you think otherwise. we wonder if there is a jury in the country that would convict anyone in terri's family that took matters into their own hands, "in fear of their life". the preceding was simply our opinion. sure, we don't want this steaming turd to be dead. this is not sarcasm, we are not simply trying to cover our asses.) |
| 04.12.03: Man talked out of bridge jump |
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© St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla.; April 13, 2003 Man talked out of bridge jump By Times staff writer The Sunshine Skyway bridge was closed for three hours Saturday morning while emergency responders talked a man out of jumping off the bridge. The man was spotted at 6:25 a.m. by Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Robert Knight, who was patrolling the bridge as part of FHP's Skyway Suicide Watch. Sgt. Steven Hooppell said a trooper patrols the bridge 24 hours a day, looking out for jumpers. Officials from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Emergency Response Team were able to negotiate with the man, whom they took into custody, sheriff's officials said. |
| janet t. from sarasota, florida used the news form: I was the fourth car at the toll booth on April 12, 2003. I was heading for Tampa airport, missed our flight, and this caused untold havoc for the two handicapped passengers we had in our party of four. Is there no other way that one can reach the airport other than sitting for three hours at a dead stop. I understand it was a female who jumped and that happened with a crisis management team. Would appreciate any news coverage as we are now up north. |
| 02.28.03: Man with cowboy hat, lasso climbs Skyway | ||
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Man with lasso is coaxed down from skyway cable © St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg, Fla., Mar. 1, 2003; A man dressed as a cowboy and wielding a lasso climbed a cable on the Sunshine Skyway bridge, then remained there for two hours Friday. Negotiators with the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office persuaded Izra Nowitzke, 25, of Polk City to climb down. He was taken to St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg for evaluation. "He was actually twirling the rope around up there," said Hillsborough sheriff's Maj. Gary Terry. "He made a comment that he was going to lasso the bridge." Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Rushing said the bridge was closed in both directions for nearly two hours after Nowitzke climbed 50 to 60 feet at 8 a.m. Rushing said Nowitzke told negotiators that he was on crack cocaine and that he was distraught over financial and marital issues.
© St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla., Feb. 28, 2003;
Hillsborough
County Sheriff's Office: Izra James Richard Nowitzke, DOB 3-23-77, Polk City, Florida
Rescue on Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Trooper Kristi Menzies
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| 11.13.99: Skyway suicide prevented |
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© St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla.; Nov 14, 1999; Two St. Petersburg police officers thwarted a suicide attempt Saturday at the crest of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. About 5 p.m., officers Maurice Steffek and Gabriele Ritzheimer responded to reports that a man was trying to climb over the guardrail on the bridge, authorities said. As the man hung by one arm from the bridge, the officers grabbed him and pulled him back over, said Detective Lisa Haber, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The 39-year-old Tampa man had been riding in a car traveling south to Manatee County. At the crest of the bridge, he asked the driver to stop, got out of the car and began to climb over the guardrail, Haber said. The driver, Johnny Addison of St. Petersburg, picked up one of six cellular phones that ring at the Crisis Center of Hillsborough County, Haber said. Counselors there contacted law enforcement. Addison held onto the man until police arrived, Haber said. The man then broke away from Addison and jumped over the rail, holding on with one arm. Police officers pulled him back over. Hillsborough sheriff's deputies took the man to South Bay Hospital in Ruskin under Florida's Baker Act, which allows officials to hospitalize someone deemed a danger to himself or others. |
| 05.98: Trooper brings people back from edge |
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©
St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla.; May 16, 1998 He has no training in crisis management. He has never done any counseling. But three times in the past four days, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper James C. Covert has managed to talk distraught people out of jumping off the Sunshine Skyway bridge. The 27-year-old former carpenter says humility and the ability to engage each person in conversation went a long way in helping him prevent three potential suicides. "I just want to get them to talk to me," said Covert, who most recently persuaded a middle-aged man not to jump from the bridge late Thursday. "I assured him I wasn't that brave that I could wrestle somebody on the top of a bridge where I could go over myself." But Covert's supervisors say the trooper has a special gift. They have recommended he receive a commendation for bravery. "It takes a special person to do what Covert did and make it go right," says Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Guzman. "That kind of thing can turn on you in a second. . . . He definitely is above the norm in being able to talk to people at a time when the end is near." Covert says he doesn't understand why so many Tampa Bay residents recently have committed suicide from the Skyway. Nine people have taken their lives from the bridge already this year. Eight people committed suicide off the bridge in all of last year. The increase in deaths has caused some Tampa Bay residents to call for fences and phone hot lines to be installed along the bridge. "It seems a little busier," Covert said. "I don't know if the recent publications about people going up there . . . if that's spurring people or encouraging people to go up there. . . . I don't know." Covert joined the force nearly three years ago. He was raised in Darian, N.Y., and graduated from the State University of New York- Brockport with a degree in criminology. While a class at the police academy offers instruction in how to handle potential suicides, troopers learn how to defuse crisis situations through on-the-job training, Guzman says. Normally, Covert is assigned to patrol state highways on the midnight shift out of the Pinellas Park district. He says he does not routinely cover the Skyway, but that changed earlier this week when he was dispatched to the top of the bridge to help a stranded motorist. As he approached the car, he found an elderly woman standing next to the guardrail, looking off into the distance. Covert says the woman appeared to be in good health. As soon as she started complaining about problems at home, he said, he realized her car was not the problem. She openly told him she was going to jump. "It sends shivers up your spine," he said. "I wanted to know what they were thinking. . . . I wanted to hear what they had to say and try what I could to remedy it. I tried to create a little bit of a rapport." Covert says the 15-minute conversation felt as if it lasted five hours. In the end, he persuaded the woman to drive her car to the nearby pier, where the two discussed her problems. The woman was admitted to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. Early Tuesday, Covert was pulled off an assignment and sent to help a disabled motorist at the top of the Skyway. When he arrived, he found a middle-aged woman who said she had problems at home. "The first time it caught me off guard," he says. "The second time, I was hoping it was just a disabled vehicle. A tire change or a tow truck or something like that." Again, Covert got the woman to drive to the south fishing pier and talk. She later drove home. On Thursday evening, Covert was patrolling along the bridge when he received his third call. He found a middle-aged man, dressed in a shirt and jeans, standing next to the barrier at the top of the bridge. The man told Covert he was having problems and intended to jump. "I tried to get him to talk about his kids," says Covert. "I tried to explain to him, (his kids) were young and maybe the kids would blame themselves. That's a heavy burden to put on his children." The conversation worked. The man was admitted to a hospital. His bosses were thankful Covert was in the right place to help. "He's special," Guzman said. "Not everyone can do what he did." |
| 09.06.94: Skyway jumper survives plunge |
| 09.07.94, © St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg; A 32-year-old man survived a leap Tuesday from the Sunshine Skyway bridge, police said. Surveillance cameras atop the bridge saw the man as he jumped about 5:56 a.m. Tuesday. Bridge officials summoned the Coast Guard, which used boats and helicopters to rescue the man, who was taken to Bayfront Medical Center. "He was able to talk but he went into shock within seconds of being put on boat," Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Melin said. Officials declined to identify the man. He plunged from a point about 100 feet above the water. |
| 03.30.94: Suicide threat ties up Skyway |
| 03.31.94, © St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg; A woman with a .357-caliber Magnum stood on a railing of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge early Wednesday and threatened to jump into Tampa Bay, holding up traffic for more than two hours, said spokeswoman Debbie Carter for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Mary Blake, 38, of Bradenton, had threatened suicide on the bridge Wednesday and once in February, Carter said. More than six police agencies came to the scene Wednesday starting about 2 a.m., Carter said. Blake was talked out of jumping off the bridge about 4:20 a.m., Carter said. Blake threw the gun in the bay before being talked down and was later referred to counseling by the Sheriff's Office, Carter said. |
| 03.23.89: Fight with wife ends in police chase |
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03.25.89, © St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla.; STEVAN ALLEN, MARIE TESSIER. It started Thursday night with the threat of a throat-slashing. It escalated into a police pursuit through Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg. And it ended on a ledge atop the Sunshine Skyway bridge. There, according to police, Clarence Weber tried to light a cigarette while debating whether to jump to his death. He couldn't get the cigarette lit because he needed one hand to hold on. So the St. Petersburg police officer standing several feet away promised to give Weber a cigarette if he got off the ledge and into a cruiser. Weber chose a cigarette over suicide. Hours earlier, police say, the man had threatened to kill his wife and their three children with a knife. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Department and Weber's relatives gave the following account of the incident: Weber, 39, showed up at his estranged wife's house at (address withheld) in Largo around 11:30 p.m. He entered the woman's bedroom and put a 7-inch knife to her throat and threatened to kill her and three children in the house. Margaret Weber, 36, managed to talk her husband into giving up the knife, which she placed in a nearby drawer. The couple talked for a while, but an argument flared. The man began choking his wife, then stopped when she began to pass out. When she came to, Mrs. Weber saw her husband kneeling on the floor crying, she said. But when he realized their 17-year-old daughter had fled the house to get help, the man grabbed the couple's 8-year-old daughter and drove away with her in his white 1978 Dodge Aspen. Deputies saw the Dodge in the neighborhood. They followed Weber after he ignored repeated warnings to pull over. The man ran several red lights and speeded at times, arrest records show. At 66th Street and 121st Avenue N, Weber stopped and forced his daughter out of the car, then drove away. A deputy picked the girl up and continued to pursue the Aspen southbound on U.S. 19. Several minutes later, Sgt. Ed Billington Jr. of the St. Petersburg Police Department heard over his radio that a car was being followed by a Sheriff's Department helicopter, police spokesman George Pinckney said. With instructions from the helicopter, Billington followed the Aspen as it sped through the Sunshine Skyway toll plaza. Near the top of the bridge, the car pulled over. Billington stopped and saw Weber jump over a 4-foot barrier onto a ledge. Weber threatened to jump when the officer approached. Weber said he would get off the ledge if Billington put in writing his promise to give him a cigarette. Billington jotted his promise on a business card and gave it to the man. According to Pinckney, the officer told Weber, ``It's time to keep your word like a man.`` Weber got in the cruiser and was arrested. He was given a cigarette, Pinckney said. Margaret Weber said Friday that she recently told her husband of 19 years that she wanted a divorce. Weber was being held Friday in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $6,400 bail. He is charged with aggravated assault, child abuse, reckless driving and fleeing and eluding a police officer. - Staff writer Marie Tessier contributed to this report. |
| 01.23.89: Trooper, DOT worker pull man off Skyway's edge |
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01.24.89, © St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg; BRADENTON - A state trooper and a Department of Transportation employee grabbed a man who apparently was about to jump from the Sunshine Skyway bridge Monday morning, officials said. After rescuing the man, troopers found lead weights in his pockets and a suicide note in his car. Trooper Frank Giles was patrolling the Manatee County side of Interstate 375 when a passer-by flagged him down and told him that a man was sitting on top of the bridge with his feet dangling over the side, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Christopher Knight said. Giles sped to the top of the bridge, where he saw the St. Petersburg man sitting on the southbound side of the bridge. Giles stopped his car on the northbound side and went across the bridge span, where he asked DOT employee Richard Cook for help. ``They ran up behind him and each one grabbed an arm and they were able to pull him back over the bridge span,`` Knight said. ``The jumper never saw them.`` Knight said that the man apparently was despondent over the loss of his girlfriend and the loss of his job. Giles, a trooper for five years, found the man's 1980 Trans Am parked on the bridge. The suicide note was inside. The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for mental evaluation. |
| 12.04.88: Police thwart suicide attempt |
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12.05.88, © St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla.; A 28-year-old Bradenton man threatened to jump off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Sunday, police said. Dennis T. Rowe of (address withheld) sat on the bridge for about 45 minutes until deputies from the Hillsborough and Sarasota Sheriff's departments convinced him not to jump. Rowe told police he was upset about a drug problem. |
| 06.03.88: Bridge rescue, Despondent veteran pulled from Skyway |
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06.04.88, © St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg,
Fla.; BRADENTON - Police negotiators grabbed a 38-year-old Vietnam veteran and hauled him to safety Friday almost four hours after the man parked his car on the Sunshine Skyway bridge and threatened to jump. The Skyway, the link between Pinellas and Manatee counties, was closed for almost four hours while the St. Petersburg man sat on a concrete barrier on the southbound span and sipped beers. Tempers and radiators ran hot as traffic backed up for miles in both directions before authorities could close the interstate entrances to the bridge. Frank Rivera, of (address withheld), was charged with obstructing a highway. Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Rivera was taken to a crisis management center in Tampa for evaluation. The incident began about 9:30 a.m. when passers-by noticed a man drinking beer and sitting precariously close to the edge of the bridge, officials said. "We saw his car first. I thought he had hit something," said 48-year-old Bob Daniels, who was driving northbound toward St. Petersburg. "He was sitting on a wall with a 12-pack of Budweiser." Authorities closed the bridge just before 10 a.m. Some motorists pulled out lounge chairs and prepared for a long wait. Others played paddle ball, walked dogs and lined up at the only telephone near the toll booth. Hillsborough County sheriff's officials, who handled the incident because the center of the bridge is in Hillsborough County, say Rivera was despondent because he had been unable to visit with his son. "We heard that he had a young son from another marriage and he wanted to see the son and couldn't," said Capt. Bill Law. "For some reason he was very depressed about it." Law said it took hours to get Rivera down because in crisis situations, the three-person negotiating team wants to avoid pressuring the suspect. "It's been our experience at times that the longer time that goes by, the less likely it's going to be that we're going to have a bad situation," Law said. "Eventually, the crisis team was able to get close enough to grab him and pull him to safety." Rivera's counselor from the Veterans Administration also helped negotiators calm him down, Law said. Rivera's wife was called to the scene but she did not speak to her husband, Law said. Motorists complained that they had no way of knowing the bridge was closed until they were on the approach. But DOT officials say their agency now has no plans to install any sort of sign system that could divert traffic around Tampa Bay when the Skyway is closed in an emergency. DOT deputy traffic engineer Jack Brown said a consulting engineer has been hired to examine the interstate corridor through Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to assess its future. According to the Times' records, 54 people have jumped from the Skyway since the original structure opened in 1954. That includes both the old and the new Skyways. The new bridge opened to traffic April 30, 1987. - Staff writer David K. Rogers contributed to this report. |
| 07.28.87: Man found 4 days after leap |
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© St. Petersburg Times;
St. Petersburg, Fla.: Jul 28, 1987. ST. PETERSBURG - A 37-year-old man who police said tried to take his life by jumping from a bridge ended up spending four nights, naked, on an island in Tampa Bay. Monday, a mullet fisherman rescued the man from Tarpon Key Island, a federal bird refuge about a half-mile west of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. John E. Tucker of Bradenton helped the nude man into his boat and took him to the Skyway toll booth office, near where police said the half-hearted suicide try occurred. Tucker said the man told him he had "lost his nerve," jumping from a low bridge approaching the Skyway rather than the main span. |
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