Man arrested after jumping off Columbus bridge into river’s whitewater course, officials say
A 41-year-old man jumped off the 14th Street Bridge into the Chattahoochee River on Saturday before getting arrested by Columbus police on the rock island below the Eagle & Phenix condominiums in downtown.
Battalion 1 Fire Chief Bryan Watson said rescue crews were called at 5:38 p.m. and launched two boats from the dock behind the Iron Works Convention & Trade Center. The crews went upstream to help the man who was stranded on rocks that divide rapids named Cut Bait and Powerhouse on Columbus’ whitewater course, just south of the 13th Street Bridge.
Before the boats arrived, the man rescued himself, going back into the river and crossing the current above the Powerhouse rapid to the island, where patrol officers waited to handcuff him.
The suspect, later identified as JB Black, was charged with disorderly conduct and going into the river without a personal flotation device, according to the Muscogee County Jail, where he remained Sunday on a hold from Crisp County, records showed.
Columbus passed a law in 2012 requiring people on the river to wear life vests. The offense is a misdemeanor.
This story was originally published August 2, 2020 at 3:30 PM.