Man jumps off bridge after police chase

Photo

Taken by: WSLS viewer Todd Hitchcock

Rockbridge County Deputies on the Maury River bridge, in pursuit of a man they say led them on a high speed chase and later jumped off the bridge

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WSLS News Staff
Published: May 13, 2008

A police chase leads to a man jumping off a bridge this morning.

Rockbridge County Sheriff Bob Day tells us the chase started around 8:30 a.m. on Route 11 South. The driver led deputies to Natural Bridge. The driver then turned on Interstate 81 and headed North.

Deputies tried to use stop sticks once and missed. The second time they worked, deflating the driver’s tires.

Sheriff Day says the driver stopped on a bridge over the Maury River, got out, ran off, then jumped from the bridge and fell 54 feet to the ground below.

Sheriff Day says the fall killed the man instantly.

Deputies found a suicide note inside the man’s car. Deputies also say the man told friends he was “terminally ill.”

Sheriff Day is waiting on authorities to notify the man’s family before releasing his name.

It is the policy of WSLS to not normally cover suicides, except in unusual circumstances. Due to the public safety threat the chase posed, we believe that meets the unusual circumstance threshold.