Bridge jumper arrested

Published 8:40 pm Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Bainbridge police arrested a North Florida man after he jumped off the Calhoun Street bridge and into the Flint River on Saturday afternoon.

The jumper, 24-year-old John White of Quincy, Fla., was apparently uninjured after jumping off the north side of the bridge into the river, some 40 to 50 feet below. However, White caused considerable concern among witnesses who saw him jump and the emergency personnel who responded to the scene expecting a tragedy.

A pedestrian who saw White jump called 911 around 3 p.m. Saturday to report that a white male with short hair and red shorts had jumped off the bridge, which carries four lanes of traffic across the river between downtown Bainbridge and West Bainbridge. As Bainbridge Public Safety officers searched for the diver, they noticed a man appearing to match the witness’ description sitting in a car near the boat landing in nearby Cheney Griffin Park, a short distance downriver from the bridge.

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The man at the park, whom police identified as White, denied having jumped. However, after talking with two other people who stated they were White’s friends and that he was indeed the jumper, he was placed under arrest and charged with misdemeanor obstruction of an officer.

Stolen truck found in Kentucky

A semi-trailer truck stolen from a local farm earlier this week was found abandoned in Kentucky on Wednesday.

An employee of S&K Farms, located at 1002 Cool Springs Road south of the Faceville community, reported to the Sheriff’s Office he had noticed one of the farm’s white semi-trailer trucks missing on Wednesday. Realizing that he had last seen the truck on Monday evening, the employee was about to report it stolen when he received a phone call from the Simpson County Welcome Center in Franklin, Ky., telling him the truck had been found.

The welcome center is more than 500 miles’ drive north-northwest of Faceville, at the border between Tennessee and Kentucky off Interstate 65. A worker there reported seeing a white male and a black female arrive at the welcome center on Tuesday night, having apparently run out of fuel. The worker stated the two people who had been in the truck then caught a ride to a truck stop at the next exit.

Sheriff’s Investigator Brian Donalson said law enforcement in Kentucky are also investigating the theft of another semi-truck from there that was later recovered in Ohio, which they believe might be related to the theft from S&K Farms.

Anyone who may have more information can contact Investigator Donalson at the Sheriff’s Office by calling 248-3044.