Man who fell from bridge expected to live

Lolita Harper

A 32-year-old Tustin man who startled motorists during a dramatic

effort to take his own life Saturday is expected to survive his

50-foot fall from a freeway interchange to the asphalt of the San

Diego Freeway below, officials said.

Jorge Dominguez, who is in the custody of the Orange County

Sheriff’s Department, is in critical condition at Western Medical

Center, hospital spokeswoman Sonoma Van Hort said.

Dominguez was rushed to Western Medical Center immediately after

his failed suicide attempt, from which he suffered numerous broken

bones and internal injuries, Van Hort reported Saturday. He was

operated on by a trauma team and transferred to the intensive care

unit, where he remains, she said.

At 3:08 p.m. Saturday, the California Highway Patrol received a

call that a car was blocking the transition road from the southbound

Costa Mesa Freeway to the southbound San Diego Freeway. On arrival,

officers found Dominguez perched on the interchange railing, holding

a small knife. Officials said it was obvious the man was distraught

and preparing to commit suicide.

As he let go of the railing, four patrol officers lunged forward

and caught his right ankle, despite his cries of protest. After more

than a minute of hanging precariously over the railing, Dominguez

used the edge of the overpass to pull himself out of the officer’s

grasp and fell to the San Diego Freeway below.

Traffic was snarled for miles Saturday, as law enforcement

officials shut down both sides of the San Diego Freeway and the

southbound connector from the Costa Mesa Freeway for more than an

hour.

It was unclear at press time what charges Dominguez might be

facing.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

and covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at [email protected].