Flagler sheriff looks to secure I-95 overpass after teen threatens to jump for third time
The state Department of Transportation will look at ways to secure the Palm Coast Parkway overpass above Interstate 95 at the request of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, which this week rescued the same teenage girl threatening to leap from the span for the third time since June.
The latest incident occurred Tuesday evening when the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office received a call about the girl who was standing on the ledge of the overpass on the other side of the fencing above the highway. Deputies shut down Palm Coast Parkway and Interstate 95 in both directions and coaxed the teenager back to safety.
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies and Palm Coast Fire Rescue rushed to the overpass on June 20, Father’s Day, and July 26, to rescue the girl after she threatened to leap from the span each of those days. A Flagler Beach Police detective helped on one of the calls.
Previous coverage: Flagler deputies, Flagler Beach detective recognized for saving life of teen girl on overpass
Related story: Flagler sheriff's deputy saves suicidal teen from jumping off I-95 overpass
In an email on Thursday, the Florida Department of Transportation stated that the bridge currently has fencing along the outside edge and upgraded handrails at the approach to the bridge, according to Jessica Ottaviano, the public information director for the department.
“It appears the area of concern is near a transition point from the roadway to the bridge,” Ottaviano wrote.
She wrote a solution needs to be worked on with local partners because Palm Coast Parkway is a local road and not under state jurisdiction.
"The Department of Transportation will begin evaluating the area to explore how we might be able to address these concerns. We will also work with local partners to coordinate any efforts,” Ottaviano wrote.
She did not provide a timetable other than writing "this review will take some time to complete."
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Division Chief Jon Welker said in a phone interview on Friday that after the second incident in July, the sheriff’s office contacted the Florida Department of Transportation, but it did not hear back.
The sheriff’s office then reached out to the city of Palm Coast to see if it could help, but the city must coordinate anything with the state because it is a state bridge, Welker said.
Welker said the sheriff’s office would like to see some type of barrier which would prevent the girl from reaching the ledge or at least make it more difficult.
Palm Coast spokesman Brittany Kershaw wrote in an email that while the parkway belongs to the city the overpass belongs to the state Department of Transportation, making the state responsible for decisions about modifications to the overpass. Kershaw wrote that according to the city's engineering department, "the current setup is the standard for all overpasses in the state of Florida."
Kershaw also sent a second email in which the city's traffic engineer Michael Grunewald stated that the "City of Palm Coast and the Flagler Sheriff staff will be ready to support any improvement. A decision on what to do and when would be up to FDOT it would seem to me at this time."
The city also received a call Friday afternoon from the Florida Department of Transportation saying it had or will have a consultant evaluating alternatives for a barrier to prevent the situation from happening again, according to an email forwarded by Kershaw.
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'Come back over to this side'
In the latest incident on Tuesday, a body camera video shows a deputy telling the girl to stop moving as she clings to the fence above the northbound lanes of the interstate and moves toward the center of the highway as cars and trucks drive below.
A deputy tells her to "stop" as she cuts him off.
“Leave me alone,” the girl said.
Deputies were aware from previous encounters that the girl doesn’t like males, so they called a female deputy to help in her rescue.
"Just keep holding on, we got a female coming to talk to you about what's going on," a male deputy tells her.
The girl sounds like she is crying.
A female deputy arrives and is able to hold the girl's hands through the fence.
"We are here to help you," the female deputy tells her.
The female deputy asks her if she wants to go home.
"I don’t know," the girl said.
"This is not the place to make the decision. Can we come on the bridge and talk about it?" the deputy said to her.
"Jumping off this bridge is a permanent solution to a temporary problem," the female deputy tells her as the girl clings to the fence above the highway.
"There’s things you can work through and get past this, but you’ll never know if you don’t try to come back over on this side,” the female deputy tells her.
The deputies were able to rescue the girl and she was taken for medical evaluation under Florida's Baker Act.
Welker said in the phone interview that while he knows of cases in which deputies have dealt more than once with the same person threatening to commit suicide, he did not recall a case in which it was the same person in the same scenario multiple times. He thanked people for calling the sheriff's office and for the work of the deputies and fire rescue.
“I appreciate the people that are calling, and the sheriff constantly says ‘See something, say something’ and that’s been extremely successful in the community," Welker said.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly commended everyone and all the agencies and deputies involved in the rescue, according to the press release.
“Their training in de-escalation techniques and being able to talk to someone who’s threatening to take their life is remarkable. I commend everyone who stepped up for this child’s life for the third time,” Staly stated in the release.
The sheriff urged that the teenager get help.
“This child continues to need significant help and I am once again asking the Department of Children and Families and her parents to get this juvenile the help she needs before it is too late," according to Staly's statement.
There are places to call for help for those with mental health struggles in Flagler County, the sheriff's office stated, and provided the following to call or visit: flaglerlifeline.org/local-mental-health-services or 800-273-8255. You can also visit: suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler sheriff seeks to secure I-95 overpass to prevent teen's suicide
