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Officers Prevent Suicide Jump

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 27, 2008

A suicidal man on top of the Sunshine Skyway told a St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue lieutenant on Friday it had been his worst Christmas.

After the man spent half an hour talking with Lt. Brad Dykens and a Florida Highway Patrol sergeant, the investigators suggested he seek professional help, St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue Lt. Joel Granata said. The man agreed not to jump.

The incident began about 3:50 p.m., when units responded to a Mercury Grand Marquis stopped on top of the bridge in the north lane. The man was standing by the car, a St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue news release states.

Dykens and a Florida Highway Patrol sergeant learned the man was upset about the holidays and was praying, according to the release. The sergeant and Dykens, a member of his agency's Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team, talked the man out of jumping from the bridge.

The man has since been taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

Josh Poltilove

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