OKC Officer Praised For Heroic Efforts To Save Distraught Man

An Oklahoma City police officer is being praised for his heroic efforts to save the life of a distraught man. 

According to police, Saturday afternoon, Sgt. Jacob Cole responded to a welfare check call regarding a man leaning over the ledge of the I-35 bridge over S.E. 89th St. When Sgt. Cole arrived, he found the man standing on the bridge, threatening to leap to his death.

Sgt. Cole tried to reason with the distraught man, while inching closer to him. However, police said as Sgt. Cole closed the gap, the man tried to jump.

Sgt. Cole, at great risk to his own safety, grabbed the man’s shirt and hung onto him as he dangled from the bridge, police said.

"He eventually quit looking at me and he started praying, and he slid further away. I just knew he was gonna try to go and I wasn't going to let that happen," Sgt. Cole said.

Two Norman police officers, Forrest Perry and Kyle Canaan, happened to be driving by and saw what was happening and stopped to help Sgt. Cole save the man.