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Published on Monday, March 29, 2004
in the St. Petersburg Times
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper pulled a man off the edge of the Sunshine Skyway bridge on Sunday night after a 20-minute stalemate atop the 197-foot-high structure, authorities said.
Trooper Jeffrey L. Johnson rescued the unidentified man shortly before 9 p.m. as the man began to lose his balance on the bridge's ledge, said FHP Lt. Bruce Doras. Troopers think the man intended to jump.
Doras said the man, who was uninjured, will be placed in the custody of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which handles suicide threats on the Sunshine Skyway.
Johnson was patrolling the bridge as part of a special detail aimed at curbing suicides when he found the man standing on the ledge.