Deputy grabs man after he lets go of rail, about to plunge from Tuolumne County bridge
A Tuolumne County sheriff’s corporal caught a man in free fall who’d climbed over the rail and was falling from the Parrotts Ferry Bridge over New Melones Lake on Monday morning.
A moment of the incredible rescue was captured by a law enforcement drone; a photo shows Cpl. Andrew Long holding onto the man’s left arm as he dangled over the water 150 feet below.
Deputies began looking for the man around midnight when they got information about a male who was threatening to jump off a local bridge, according to a press release.
With the assistance of the California Highway Patrol, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office and Angels Camp Police Department, authorities checked the Stevenot and Parrotts Ferry bridges.
Neither the man nor his vehicle were located initially, but at 3 a.m., his vehicle was found near the Parrotts Ferry Bridge.
Authorities continued looking for the man. At 7 a.m., the Tuolumne County Search and Rescue Team and boat patrol deputies joined the search.
Around 10 a.m., the man was located standing on the Parrotts Ferry Bridge.
Long, who is part of the search and rescue team, tried negotiating with him for about 10 minutes.
But the man climbed over the railing and was hanging from it, said Tuolumne County sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Nikiforuk.
When the man let go of the top of the railing, Long was reaching underneath it and caught the man by his arm as he was falling, Nikiforuk said.
Long held onto the man for about 30 seconds until Calaveras County sheriff’s Deputy Jason Markovitz came to help.
The two of them were then joined by other members of Tuolumne County Search and Rescue. Together, they pulled the man over the railing to safety.
The man was uninjured but was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, Nikiforuk said.
“We want to thank all of our allied agencies and the heroic work of all law enforcement personnel today,” reads the press release. “Your bravery, dedication and persistence saved a life.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 4:11 PM.
