Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Officer

California Highway Patrol

4/2/2004

Special Act Award (Gold)

California Highway Patrol Officers Harris, Matulonis, and Pope, on April 2, 2004, combined efforts and performed an act of heroism at great risk to their own personal safety to rescue a suicidal victim from jumping from the Oakland Bay Bridge. At 7:10 p.m., the California Highway Patrol Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team was requested to respond to the Oakland Bay Bridge to an incident involving a suicidal subject. Earlier in the day, a suicidal man climbed over the south rail on the upper deck of the Oakland Bay Bridge and perched himself on a six inch wide steel beam. This location is approximately 240 feet above the water of the San Francisco Bay. The man sat down on the beam and began to cut his arms with a razor blade. The San Francisco Police Department crisis negotiator team was requested, responded, and communicated with the man for several hours to no avail. The SWAT team leader began to formulate a plan of action to rescue/apprehend the man from his location that included SWAT Team members rappelling over the side of the bridge. Shortly after 11: 00 p.m. the man appeared visibly tired and suffering from hypothermia when he escalated his self-mutilation with the razor blade and moved to a triangular support beam on the Bridge structure and began to lie down. This location afforded the best opportunity for a successful rescue. Officers Harris, Matulonis, and Pope geared themselves with rappel safety equipment and safety lines. Officer Matulonis took a position on the east side of the beam. Both officers simultaneously rappelled to and moved onto the beam, advancing toward the suicidal man’s position. As soon as the man observed the officers approaching, he lunged at Officer Matulonis and physically engaged him. Officer Matulonis grabbed the lunging man with his arms, and Officer Harris swiftly moved in to assist and grab the combative subject to attempt to place a safety system around his waist. The man continued to violently struggle without regard to his own safety or the safety of the rappelling officers as he tried to bite, scratch, and pull both officers off of the beam. Officer Pope rappelled onto the beam to assist Officers Harris and Matulonis in subduing the man. All three rappelling officers were now struggling to prevent a totally unrestrained and extremely combative subject from falling to his death. Due to the precarious nature of the situation, a less then lethal beanbag round was fired at the man and struck the right side of his back. This momentarily stunned him and finally enabled and besieged officers to place a safety harness and a safety line on the man. As a result of the extraordinary and heroic efforts of the three SWAT members, the man was raised and moved over the Bridge rail for a successful rescue.