Florida Deputies Stop Man From Jumping Off Bridge

April 8, 2014
Deputy Troy Savetz, Cpl. James Brueckner and Sgt. Jeff Esterline came to aid of the suicidal man.

Three Pinellas County deputies teamed up over the weekend to stop a man from jumping off a bridge.

Deputy Troy Savetz, Cpl. James Brueckner and Sgt. Jeff Esterline were called to the Bay Pines Bridge just before 10 a.m. on Sunday and found a 24-year-old man standing on the side of the bridge, according to The Tampa Tribune.

Officials said that the man was yelling that if they got close, he would jump.

Brueckner and Esterline approached the man on his right side while still keeping their distance and attempted to keep his attention. At the same time, Savetz walked around the man and tackled him.

The deputies then safely restrained the man on the bridge. It took them about two minutes to rescue the man once they arrived on the scene.

"I knew what I was going to do," Savetz told the newspaper. "I had it on my mind that would be the only way to get him down."

The man struggled after being pulled off the bridge and the deputies eventually had to use a stun gun to subdue him.

Sheriff's officials said that the man was taken to the hospital in an ambulance but wasn't injured.

Savetz said that once inside the ambulance, the man thanked them for saving his life.

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